On June 30, 2026, Direct Loans for 0.64 million student loan recipients, worth $16.5 billion, were 271 to 360 days past due, the last stage before a federal student loan is counted as in default. In all, $96.9 billion in Direct Loans for 3.39 million recipients were at least 31 days behind.
That number is lower than a year earlier, when 6.45 million recipients were 31 or more days late. But the drop does not mean borrowers caught up. Over the same year, the amount of Direct Loans in default rose from $82.6 billion for 3.70 million recipients to $187.8 billion for 7.55 million. Many loans that were seriously late in mid-2025 moved through the 271-360 day stage and into default.
What changed
Federal student loan payments restarted in late 2023 after the pandemic pause, followed by a one-year "on-ramp" that ended on September 30, 2024. During the on-ramp, loans that fell three payments behind were moved into forbearance, so few loans became seriously delinquent. The December 2024 report was the first after the on-ramp. Delinquency then built up stage by stage: in June 2025, 4.12 million recipients were 181 to 270 days late, and by September and December 2025 large groups were reaching the 271-360 day stage. Those loans then defaulted, which is why default balances jumped in 2026.
As of June 30, 2026, the earlier stages were still holding millions of recipients: 1.14 million were 31 to 90 days late and 0.83 million were 91 to 180 days late. Unless they catch up or change plans, some of them will reach default over the coming year.
Direct Loans in repayment, by stage of delinquency
| Status, Direct Loans in repayment | Balance, June 30, 2026 | Recipients, June 30, 2026 | Balance, June 30, 2025 | Recipients, June 30, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current | $541.1B | 14.12M | $402.8B | 12.31M |
| 31-90 days late | $36.4B | 1.14M | $29.9B | 1.13M |
| 91-180 days late | $23.4B | 0.83M | $30.9B | 1.18M |
| 181-270 days late | $19.6B | 0.74M | $103.0B | 4.12M |
| 271-360 days late | $16.5B | 0.64M | $0.5B | 0.02M |
| Transferring to collections | $1.0B | 0.04M | $0.0B | 0.00M |
| Total 31 or more days late | $96.9B | 3.39M | $164.3B | 6.45M |
| Already in default (cumulative, all Direct Loans) | $187.8B | 7.55M | $82.6B | 3.70M |
Balances in billions of dollars, recipients in millions. The default row comes from FSA's Portfolio by Loan Status report and is the cumulative stock of Direct Loans more than 360 days late, not new defaults in the year. Totals are our sums.
Recipients by stage, quarter by quarter since 2024
| Quarter end | 31-90 days | 91-180 days | 181-270 days | 271-360 days | Total 31+ days late | In default (cumulative) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 30, 2026 | 1.14M | 0.83M | 0.74M | 0.64M | 3.39M | 7.55M |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 0.97M | 1.06M | 0.84M | 0.50M | 3.42M | 7.20M |
| Dec 31, 2025 | 1.28M | 1.18M | 0.68M | 1.00M | 4.14M | 6.00M |
| Sep 30, 2025 | 1.40M | 0.94M | 0.85M | 3.39M | 6.58M | 3.70M |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 1.13M | 1.18M | 4.12M | 0.02M | 6.45M | 3.70M |
| Mar 31, 2025 | 1.48M | 5.59M | 0.03M | 0.00M | 7.10M | 3.70M |
| Dec 31, 2024 | 4.64M | 0.04M | 0.00M | 0.00M | 4.68M | 3.70M |
| Sep 30, 2024 | 4.29M | 2.79M | 0.00M | 0.00M | 7.08M | 4.00M |
| Jun 30, 2024 | 2.01M | 1.03M | 0.00M | 0.00M | 3.04M | 4.10M |
| Mar 31, 2024 | 6.74M | 0.43M | 0.00M | 0.00M | 7.17M | 4.20M |
| Dec 31, 2023 | 7.12M | 0.00M | 0.00M | 0.00M | 7.12M | 4.30M |
Millions of recipients. The CSV has every quarter since mid-2013 for Direct Loans, and since 2016 for FFEL loans held by the Education Department.
Why it matters
Default has real costs. The full balance can become due, the default is reported to credit bureaus, and the government can collect without a court order by taking part of a borrower's wages, federal tax refunds and some federal benefits, including Social Security. On January 16, 2026, the Education Department said it would temporarily delay wage garnishment and Treasury offsets while it put new repayment rules in place; it did not give an end date, and defaults continue to be reported to credit bureaus. On September 30, 2026, the Treasury and Education departments launched an online Defaulted Loans Support Center at StudentAid.gov.
What you can do if you are behind
- Contact your loan servicer before you reach 270 days. You may be able to change to an income-driven plan, which sets the payment based on your income, or ask for a deferment or forbearance to cover the past-due amount.
- If your loan is already in default, you can get out through loan rehabilitation (a series of on-time, income-based payments) or consolidation. Under the 2025 law, borrowers can now rehabilitate a defaulted loan a second time.
- Check who holds your loans and their status at StudentAid.gov. Recipients of Parent PLUS loans should check with the parent borrower.
- Be wary of companies that charge fees to do this for you. The same options are available free from your servicer and the Education Department.
What these numbers are
The figures are a snapshot of the Education Department's systems on the last day of each quarter. They cover Direct Loans in repayment status; loans in school, grace, deferment or forbearance are not counted as delinquent. FSA counts recipients loan by loan, so one person can appear in more than one row. For Parent PLUS loans the recipient is the student, not the parent who borrowed. FSA says technical default occurs at 271 days, but for reporting it treats loans as defaulted at 361 days. Loans already transferred to the Debt Management and Collections System are not in the delinquency report.
Source
U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid Data Center, Federal Student Loan Portfolio: Direct Loan Portfolio by Delinquency Status (file updated September 18, 2026) and Direct Loan Portfolio by Loan Status, downloaded October 20, 2026. Collections delay: Education Department press release, January 16, 2026; support center: Treasury press release, September 30, 2026. U.S. government data. Our tables are available under CC BY 4.0. Credit "My Credit Guide (mycreditguide.org)".
Steven Reynolds, "Federal Student Loans Near Default: Delinquency by Stage," My Credit Guide, October 20, 2026, https://mycreditguide.org/data/student-loans-near-default/.