California residents held $156.7 billion in outstanding federal student loan debt across 3,919,500 borrowers as of March 31, 2026, according to Federal Student Aid’s borrower-location data. Using the published balance and borrower count, that works out to approximately $39,980 per borrower. California had the largest reported total balance of any state, although Texas had slightly more borrowers.
Federal Student Aid reported about $1.7 trillion in outstanding federal student loans nationwide across 42.6 million recipients for the same reporting quarter. California therefore accounted for roughly 9% of the national federal portfolio by dollars, based on the rounded published totals.
California’s Federal Student Loan Balance
California’s $156.7 billion federal balance was $18.4 billion higher than Texas, the state with the next-largest reported total. Florida and New York followed. Total balance and average balance answer different questions: California’s very large borrower population pushes its aggregate balance to the top even though its average balance per borrower is below several other states.
California and the other largest state federal student loan balances
Outstanding federal balance, borrower count, and calculated average balance per borrower as of March 31, 2026.
| State | Outstanding balance | Borrowers | Average balance per borrower |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $156.7 billion | 3,919,500 | $39,980 |
| Texas | $138.3 billion | 3,949,800 | $35,014 |
| Florida | $113.1 billion | 2,747,700 | $41,162 |
| New York | $99.9 billion | 2,456,600 | $40,666 |
Largest state federal student loan balances
Outstanding balance in billions of dollars, March 31, 2026.
Federal Student Aid, Portfolio by Location, March 31, 2026.
Total balance and borrower count produce different rankings
- California had the largest reported balance at $156.7 billion, $18.4 billion above Texas.
- Texas had 30,300 more borrowers than California but $18.4 billion less outstanding debt.
- Florida and New York had higher average balances per borrower than California while holding much smaller aggregate balances.
A full comparison of all reported locations is available in the student loan debt by state dataset.
What the $39,980 Average Measures
The approximately $39,980 figure is an outstanding federal balance per California borrower. It is not the amount an undergraduate borrows in one year, the amount owed at graduation, or the average debt of every California college graduate.
Federal Student Aid’s location report assigns debt according to the borrower’s reported location. Someone who attended college outside California but now has a California location can therefore appear in the California total. Likewise, someone who attended a California college but now lives elsewhere can appear under another location.
The outstanding balance can also reflect borrowing from multiple periods of education, graduate or professional study, accrued interest, and years of repayment activity. Debt-at-graduation statistics use a different population and should not be substituted for this measure.
First-Time Full-Time Undergraduates Borrow Less Often in California
A separate measure looks at first-time, full-time undergraduates at Title IV degree-granting institutions rather than at the outstanding balances of current borrowers. Public Policy Institute of California analysis of 2022–23 IPEDS data found that 23% of this group in California took out student loans, compared with 38% nationally. Among federal student loans alone, the borrowing rates were 22% in California and 37% nationwide.
First-time, full-time undergraduate student loan borrowing in California and nationwide
Borrowing rate and average amount borrowed during 2022–23 for first-time, full-time undergraduates at Title IV degree-granting institutions. These figures measure borrowing during the academic year, not outstanding borrower balances.
| Loan measure | California borrowing rate | U.S. borrowing rate | California average amount | U.S. average amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student loans | 23% | 38% | $7,234 | $7,753 |
| Federal student loans | 22% | 37% | $5,419 | $5,705 |
First-time, full-time undergraduate borrowing rates are lower in California
Share of first-time, full-time undergraduates borrowing during 2022–23.
Student Loan Changes Reshape Conditions for California Borrowers, Public Policy Institute of California analysis of 2022–23 IPEDS data.
The gap in borrowing rates was 15 percentage points for both measures. Average amounts among borrowers were also lower in the California figures: $519 lower for the broader student-loan measure and $286 lower for federal loans.
Student Loan Delinquency in California
Outstanding balance does not show whether borrowers are making payments on time. California Policy Lab reported that 11.0% of California student loan borrowers were 30 or more days delinquent in the second quarter of 2025.
The California Policy Lab delinquency measure comes from credit-bureau data and is not the same dataset as Federal Student Aid’s administrative federal loan portfolio. It should not be used to calculate a federal default rate or combined directly with FSA borrower counts.
The 30-day delinquency measure is an early indicator of missed payments. It is also different from federal student loan default, which uses its own loan-status rules and timing.
Data Notes
- The primary California balance and borrower figures use Federal Student Aid’s Portfolio by Location data through March 31, 2026.
- Federal Student Aid announced on June 23, 2026 that its quarterly reports had been refreshed through March 31, 2026.
- The $39,980 California average is calculated from the published $156.7 billion balance and 3,919,500 borrowers. Because the balance is published in rounded billions, the resulting average should be treated as approximate.
- The nationwide portfolio figure of about $1.7 trillion and 42.6 million recipients is also rounded. An exact California-versus-national average-balance difference is therefore not calculated from those totals.
- The 2022–23 undergraduate borrowing figures cover first-time, full-time undergraduates at Title IV degree-granting institutions. They measure borrowing during an academic year and are not comparable to the March 2026 outstanding-balance measure.
- The delinquency figure comes from credit-bureau data rather than the Federal Student Aid portfolio and covers a different measurement system.
- The available borrower-location data do not form a complete, period-consistent California series across the relevant historical periods, so they are not combined into a single historical trend.
Sources
- Portfolio by Location — U.S. Department of Education, Office of Federal Student Aid; California and state borrower-location balances and borrower counts through March 31, 2026.
- Federal Student Aid Posts Updated Reports to FSA Data Center — Federal Student Aid, June 23, 2026; confirms the quarterly report refresh through March 31, 2026 and reports national federal portfolio totals.
- Student Loan Changes Reshape Conditions for California Borrowers — Public Policy Institute of California, December 1, 2025; analysis of IPEDS data on first-time, full-time undergraduate borrowing in 2022–23.
- Student loan delinquencies surging, especially for older borrowers — California Policy Lab, September 17, 2025; California 30-day student loan delinquency data through the second quarter of 2025.
Cite This Page
DebtData.org. (2026). California Student Loan Debt. https://debtdata.org/california-student-loan-debt/“California Student Loan Debt.” DebtData.org, October 1, 2026, https://debtdata.org/california-student-loan-debt/.DebtData.org. “California Student Loan Debt.” Last modified October 1, 2026. https://debtdata.org/california-student-loan-debt/.