3.2 million federal student loan borrowers were 62 or older on March 31, 2026, and they owed $143.7 billion. Nine years earlier, in March 2017, 1.7 million borrowers in that age group owed $51.9 billion. Their balance has grown 177% since then, faster than any other age group.
Borrowers 50 and older now hold 26.9% of the $1,696.3 billion federal student loan portfolio, up from 18.2% in 2017. The 62-and-older group alone holds 8.5%.
What changed
The number of borrowers under 25 has fallen from 8.6 million to 6.2 million since 2017, and their balances have shrunk. The growth has come from older age groups. Part of that is people carrying the same loans for longer: many borrowers in income-driven plans pay less than the interest that builds up, and repayment can stretch over 20 years or more. Part is new borrowing later in life, including Parent PLUS loans that parents take out for their children's education; those loans count toward the parent's age group. FSA's file does not split the older group by loan type, so it does not show how much is Parent PLUS.
Over the past year, the 62-and-older balance rose from $128.5 billion to $143.7 billion while total federal student debt grew by about 1.9%.
Federal student loans by borrower age
| Borrower age | Balance, Mar 31, 2026 | Borrowers | Average per borrower (our calc) | Balance, Mar 31, 2017 | Borrowers, 2017 | Change in balance since 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 and younger | $85.6B | 6.2M | $13,806 | $134.3B | 8.6M | -36% |
| 25 to 34 | $465.8B | 14.0M | $33,271 | $477.4B | 15.3M | -2% |
| 35 to 49 | $685.1B | 15.0M | $45,673 | $484.7B | 13.5M | +41% |
| 50 to 61 | $312.8B | 6.4M | $48,875 | $191.9B | 5.6M | +63% |
| 62 and older | $143.7B | 3.2M | $44,906 | $51.9B | 1.7M | +177% |
Balances in billions of dollars and borrowers in millions, as published by FSA (rounded to 0.1 million). Average per borrower and changes are our calculations from those rounded figures, so treat them as approximate.
Borrowers 62 and older, each March since 2017
| As of | Borrowers 62 and older | Balance owed by borrowers 62+ | Share of all federal student loan dollars | Borrowers 50 to 61 | Balance, 50 to 61 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 2026 | 3.2M | $143.7B | 8.5% | 6.4M | $312.8B |
| Mar 31, 2025 | 2.9M | $128.5B | 7.7% | 6.3M | $297.7B |
| Mar 31, 2024 | 2.8M | $115.8B | 7.1% | 6.3M | $284.5B |
| Mar 31, 2023 | 2.7M | $112.8B | 6.8% | 6.5M | $297.4B |
| Mar 31, 2022 | 2.5M | $101.4B | 6.3% | 6.4M | $286.6B |
| Mar 31, 2021 | 2.4M | $92.7B | 5.8% | 6.3M | $273.7B |
| Mar 31, 2020 | 2.2M | $81.4B | 5.3% | 6.0M | $252.6B |
| Mar 31, 2019 | 2.0M | $70.4B | 4.8% | 5.9M | $230.4B |
| Mar 31, 2018 | 1.8M | $60.5B | 4.3% | 5.8M | $210.3B |
| Mar 31, 2017 | 1.7M | $51.9B | 3.9% | 5.6M | $191.9B |
How much older borrowers owe
A separate FSA table for March 31, 2026 shows that of the borrowers 62 and older, about 1.58 million owed less than $20,000, and about 0.39 million owed $100,000 or more. That smaller group of large balances accounts for $74.3 billion, about half of what the age group owes. Our page on large federal student loan balances has the full breakdown.
Why it matters
Older borrowers are more likely to live on fixed incomes, and federal student loans are one of the few debts that can be collected from Social Security. For a defaulted loan, the Treasury can take up to 15% of a monthly Social Security benefit, but it must leave at least $750 a month. On January 16, 2026, the Education Department said it would temporarily delay collections through wage garnishment and the Treasury Offset Program, which includes Social Security offsets. It did not set an end date.
What you can do
- If you are behind, contact your servicer about an income-driven repayment plan. Payments are based on income and family size, and for many retirees on low incomes the payment can be small.
- If your loan is in default, look into rehabilitation or consolidation to get out of default before offsets resume. The Treasury and Education departments run a Defaulted Loans Support Center at StudentAid.gov.
- If you are permanently disabled, you may qualify for a total and permanent disability discharge, which can be approved using Social Security records.
- If a Social Security offset would cause hardship, you can ask the Education Department to reduce or stop it by documenting your income and expenses.
- Federal student loans are discharged when the borrower dies. A Parent PLUS loan is also discharged if the student for whom it was borrowed dies.
What these numbers are
The figures cover Direct Loan, FFEL and Perkins borrowers with loans in an open status, grouped by the borrower's age at the end of the quarter. Balances include principal and interest; interest on school-held Perkins loans is not included. The latest age data are for March 31, 2026, one quarter behind some other FSA files. Because of rounding and timing, totals can differ slightly from FSA's portfolio summary. Private student loans are not included.
Source
U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid Data Center, Federal Student Loan Portfolio: Portfolio by Borrower Age and Portfolio by Age and Debt Size (files updated June 18, 2026), downloaded October 20, 2026. Offset limits: 31 CFR 285.4. Collections delay: Education Department, January 16, 2026. U.S. government data. Our tables are available under CC BY 4.0. Credit "My Credit Guide (mycreditguide.org)".
Steven Reynolds, "Older Federal Student Loan Borrowers: Debt by Age, 2017-2026," My Credit Guide, October 20, 2026, https://mycreditguide.org/data/older-student-loan-borrowers/.