Student Loan Delinquency Was 10.6% in Q2 2026: Share of Balances 90+ Days Past Due
The share of student loan balances 90 or more days delinquent was 10.6% in Q2 2026, up from 10.16% a year earlier, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Household Debt and Credit Report. Federal payments resumed in October 2023; the separate on-ramp ended September 30, 2024, so only 2025 onward reflects resumed reporting of late federal loans. Annual borrower payment-status data from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System's Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), updated as comparable releases arrive.
What Is the Current Student Loan Default Rate?
The student loan delinquency rate — balances 90 or more days past due as a share of total student loan debt on credit reports — was 10.6% in Q2 2026, according to the NY Fed's Household Debt and Credit Report, up from 10.16% a year earlier. That is the highest share since late federal loans went back on credit reports in 2025. It is a share of balances, not of borrowers, and it is not a default rate: it mixes loans 90 or more days late with defaulted loans still on credit reports.
Federal student-loan payments resumed in October 2023 after the pause that began in March 2020. The Department of Education's separate 12-month on-ramp kept missed payments off credit reports through September 30, 2024. The reported share was 0.5% in Q4 2024 and 7.7% in Q1 2025, as previously unreported missed payments appeared on credit reports. That is a reporting transition, not a count of borrowers whose payment obligations first returned in that quarter. In 2019, before the pause, the share averaged 10.9%. The American Distress Index treats student-loan delinquency as separate context rather than a composite input.
Key Statistics at a Glance
The American Distress Index currently reads 47.0 (Typical). The composite itself sits higher than 44% of all published quarters since 2005. Student loan delinquency is not included in the index. The payment pause and later on-ramp reporting transition create a comparability break. Co-movement with mortgage, auto, or credit-card delinquency does not establish the same borrowers or one common cause.
How Has Student Loan Delinquency Changed Over Time?
The series starts in 2003. In Q3 2012, previously defaulted student loans were newly updated on credit reports, and the NY Fed says this boosted the rate: 8.9% in Q2 2012, 11.0% in Q3 2012. The highest reading was 11.8% in Q3 2013, and the share averaged 10.9% in 2019. The series is a share of balances 90 or more days delinquent; it does not measure borrower earnings or, by itself, identify why the rate moved.
The federal payment pause began in March 2020. From then, paused federal loans were reported as current, so the reported rate was 0.9% in Q4 2022. Those low readings reflect reporting policy, not repayment. Payments resumed in October 2023, while the separate on-ramp kept missed payments off credit reports through September 30, 2024. Readings across that interval are not directly comparable with an ordinary repayment-and-reporting period.
Share of Student Loan Balances 90+ Days Delinquent (Quarterly, 2003–Present)
Source: NY Fed Household Debt and Credit Report, Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax. Quarterly frequency.
Full data and trend: Student Loan Delinquency Rate time series →
Key Moments in the Student Loan Delinquency Timeline
These reference points show the pre-pandemic series, payment-pause period, on-ramp reporting transition, and current reported rate without treating them as one continuous measurement regime.
| Period | Rate | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2003 | 6.1% | Earliest available data; the NY Fed says 2003–2004 student loan figures may be undercounted |
| Q3 2012 | 11.0% | Previously defaulted student loans newly updated on credit reports, which the NY Fed says boosted the rate |
| Q3 2013 | 11.8% | Highest reading in the series since 2003 |
| Q4 2019 | 11.1% | Pre-pandemic reading |
| Q1 2020 | 10.8% | Federal payment pause begins (March 2020) |
| Q3 2024 | 0.5% | Low during the on-ramp reporting period; payments had resumed October 2023 |
| Q1 2025 | 7.7% | Post-on-ramp reporting transition; on-ramp ended September 30, 2024 |
| Q2 2026 | 10.6% | Latest reported balance share |
The Payment Restart and the Reporting Transition
Federal student-loan payments resumed in October 2023. The Department of Education's separate on-ramp kept missed payments off credit reports through September 30, 2024. The reported balance share was 0.5% in Q4 2024 and 7.7% in Q1 2025. That is a post-on-ramp reporting transition, not the date payments resumed or a count of newly delinquent borrowers.
The share was 10.6% in Q2 2026. The NY Fed says re-reporting of defaulted student debt continues to distort these figures, and borrowers in litigation forbearance cannot go delinquent while in it. The aggregate series does not identify whether repayment-plan enrollment, payment amounts, servicing, reporting, or another factor caused those movements.
Student Loan Delinquency Through the Pause and On-Ramp Transition
Source: NY Fed Household Debt and Credit Report. Quarterly frequency.
How Many Student Loan Borrowers Are Behind on Payments?
In 2024, 20% of adults with outstanding student loans for their own education were behind on payments or in collections, according to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System's Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED). That is up from 16% in 2023. It is the highest share since 2018, when it was 20%.
This SHED measure is a share of borrowers, not a share of their income or a debt-service ratio. It also differs from the New York Fed series above, which measures the share of outstanding balances that are seriously delinquent. Together, the surveys describe borrower-level payment trouble and balance-level delinquency without treating the two denominators as interchangeable.
Student Loan Borrowers Behind on Payments or in Collections (Annual)
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED). Annual frequency.
Full data: Student Loan Borrowers Behind on Payments or in Collections time series →
How Do Student Loans Compare to Other Debt?
In Q2 2026, 10.6% of student loan balances were 90 or more days past due. Across all household debt on credit reports, 4.7% of balances were 30 or more days past due, up from 4.4% a year earlier. The thresholds differ and the all-debt figure includes student loans, so the two lines on the chart are not a like-for-like comparison, and this page does not rank one against the other.
Student loans are unsecured education debt, while mortgage and auto loans are collateralized. Those product differences can inform research questions, but the plotted aggregates do not establish why one reported rate is higher, whether underwriting alone caused the gap, or which borrowers overlap with another series.
Student Loan vs. Total Consumer Delinquency Rate (Quarterly, 2003–Present)
Source: NY Fed Household Debt and Credit Report, Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax.
Related data: Total Delinquency Rate (Falling Behind) time series →
What the Reporting Break Means
The payment pause and on-ramp changed required payments and adverse reporting at different times. The resulting low readings and later increase cannot be interpreted as one uninterrupted measure of newly delinquent borrowers.
The NY Fed series reports the share of balances 90 or more days delinquent under the applicable reporting environment. It does not estimate a hidden or "true" default rate, repayment progress, or borrowers' ability to pay. If you own a home and student-loan payments are making the mortgage hard to keep up with, see options for getting help before falling further behind.
Read more: "The Two-Economy Problem: Why the Headlines Don't Match Your Bank Account" →Data Sources and Methodology
NY Fed Household Debt and Credit Report
Quarterly report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York based on the Consumer Credit Panel, a 5% sample of Equifax credit records; student loan figures use a 1% sample drawn from it. Student loan delinquency is measured as the share of balances 90+ days past due or severely derogatory. The NY Fed does not say the series is seasonally adjusted, so this page compares a quarter with the same quarter a year earlier.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
The annual Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) asks adults with outstanding student loans for their own education whether they are behind on payments or in collections. The series measures the share of those borrowers reporting payment trouble.
Payment Pause Context
Federal student loan payments were paused from March 2020, and paused federal loans were reported as current. Federal payments resumed in October 2023. A separate 12-month "on-ramp" kept missed payments off credit reports through September 30, 2024. The quarterly delinquency series after that date reflects a reporting transition as well as payment outcomes.
American Distress Index
Student loan delinquency is excluded from the index because the pause and the return of credit reporting break the series. Current score: 47.0.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current student loan default rate?
The NY Fed does not publish a default rate in this series. Its 90+ day student loan delinquency rate was 10.6% in Q2 2026, up from 10.16% a year earlier, according to the NY Fed Household Debt and Credit Report. It measures the share of balances, not borrowers, that are 90 or more days past due, and it mixes loans 90 or more days late with defaulted loans still on credit reports. Federal payments resumed in October 2023; the temporary on-ramp ended September 30, 2024.
How many student loan borrowers are behind on payments?
The New York Fed's 10.6% reading cannot answer how many borrowers are behind because it measures the share of outstanding balances 90 or more days delinquent. The separate SHED borrower-status series reports 20.0% of student-loan borrowers behind on payments or in collections in 2024. Those populations and denominators are not interchangeable.
What happened when the student loan payment pause ended?
Federal student-loan payments resumed in October 2023. A separate 12-month on-ramp kept missed payments off credit reports through September 30, 2024. The reported 90+ day balance share was 0.5% in Q4 2024 and 7.7% in Q1 2025, as previously unreported missed payments appeared on credit reports. The series alone cannot separate newly missed payments from the timing of reporting after the on-ramp.
Are student loan defaults rising or falling?
The share of balances 90 or more days delinquent was 10.6% in Q2 2026, up from 10.16% a year earlier. That is the highest share since late federal loans went back on credit reports in 2025. In 2019, before the pause, it averaged 10.9%. The NY Fed says re-reporting of defaulted student debt still distorts the figures, and the series does not identify which repayment plan, servicing action, payment amount, or reporting change caused a movement.
How do student loan defaults connect to the American Distress Index?
Student loan delinquency is not included in the American Distress Index. The payment pause and later on-ramp/reporting transition break comparability with an ordinary quarterly series. Co-movement with mortgage, auto, or credit-card measures does not establish the same borrowers or a common cause.