The student loan delinquency rate is surging, new research finds.
Nearly 25% of student loan borrowers with a payment due are now behind, compared with around 9% in 2019, during President Donald Trump’s first term, according to a report published Friday by The Century Foundation, a left-leaning think tank.
Around 7.9 million student loan borrowers entered delinquency in the first three quarters of 2025 alone, the authors of the study wrote. The foundation used data from the University of California Consumer Credit Panel, a 2% nationally representative sample of U.S. adults with credit records, for its analysis.
The researchers said the Trump administration’s policies during the president’s second term are to blame for the spike in delinquencies.
“By blocking access to the very programs designed to help struggling borrowers, Donald Trump is trapping millions in a spiral of debt that is destroying their credit scores and locking them out of homeownership, buying a car and other life milestones,” said Peter Granville, a fellow at The Century Foundation and lead author of the study.
