Federal student loan repayment data show a portfolio still moving between repayment, forbearance, delinquency, and default. As of June 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education managed more than $1.64 trillion in outstanding federal student loans across 40.5 million recipient accounts. More than 17.4 million recipients had at least one loan in a current repayment or delinquency status, representing about $658 billion in outstanding loans.
The June 2026 portfolio data also show more than 9.3 million recipients in default, eight million with at least one loan in forbearance, and more than 3.3 million with at least one loan in deferment. These categories should not be added together because Federal Student Aid counts recipients at the loan level and the same person can appear in more than one status category.
More than $1.64 trillion
More than 17.4 million
About 3.5 million
About 13 million
Federal Student Loan Repayment Status in June 2026
About 43% of the 40.5 million recipients in the federally managed portfolio had at least one loan in a current repayment or delinquency status at the end of June 2026. Loans associated with those recipients totaled about $658 billion, or roughly 40% of the federally managed portfolio.
Selected Federally Managed Student Loan Statuses
Recipient counts and outstanding balances reported by Federal Student Aid for June 30, 2026. Counts can overlap across status categories.
| Loan Status | Recipients | Outstanding Balance | Reported Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current repayment or delinquency | More than 17.4 million | $658 billion | About 43% of federally managed recipients |
| Default | More than 9.3 million | $234 billion | About 14% of the federally managed balance |
| Forbearance | 8.0 million | $459 billion | About one-fifth of federally managed recipients |
| Deferment | More than 3.3 million | $150 billion | About 8% of federally managed recipients |
A repayment-status count is not a unique-borrower distribution. Federal Student Aid reports recipient counts at the loan level. A recipient with one loan in deferment and another in forbearance can appear in both categories.
Repayment, Forbearance, and Default Since December 2025
The distribution of federally managed loans changed during the first half of 2026. The balance associated with recipients in repayment or delinquency moved from about $647 billion in December 2025 to $633 billion in March and $658 billion in June. Forbearance balances declined each quarter, while the amount in default increased.
Selected Federal Loan Status Balances, December 2025 to June 2026
Outstanding balances in billions of dollars. Federal Student Aid reports these amounts as rounded or approximate values.
| Reporting Date | Repayment or Delinquency | Forbearance | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 31, 2025 | $647 billion | $504 billion | $180 billion |
| Mar. 31, 2026 | $633 billion | $485 billion | $220 billion |
| Jun. 30, 2026 | $658 billion | $459 billion | $234 billion |
Selected Federally Managed Student Loan Balances
Repayment or delinquency, forbearance, and default balances in USD billions.
Federal Student Aid quarterly portfolio update, data through June 30, 2026. Values are reported in rounded billions.
How the balances moved
- The reported default balance rose from about $180 billion in December 2025 to $234 billion in June 2026, an increase of about $54 billion based on the rounded source values.
- The forbearance balance fell from about $504 billion to $459 billion over the same period, a decline of about $45 billion.
- The repayment-or-delinquency balance was about $11 billion higher in June 2026 than in December 2025 after falling in the March quarter.
New Online Support Center for Defaulted Federal Loans
The U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of the Treasury launched the Defaulted Loans Support Center on September 30, 2026. The StudentAid.gov portal gives borrowers with defaulted federal student loans one online location to review the consequences of default, compare available paths out of default, apply for loan rehabilitation or consolidation, make a payment on a defaulted loan, and review repayment and discharge options.
Borrowers using the rehabilitation process can complete the application online, upload supporting documents, review an estimated payment, electronically sign the rehabilitation agreement, and track their progress without leaving StudentAid.gov. Consolidation applications for defaulted loans can also be started through the portal.
The Defaulted Loans Support Center is for borrowers with federal student loans already in default. It does not change the June 30, 2026 portfolio statistics shown above. Borrowers can access the federal portal at StudentAid.gov/default-support.
Delinquency Among Borrowers in Active Repayment
Federal Student Aid separates active repayment from loan statuses in which a monthly payment is generally not required. Active repayment includes current and delinquent borrowers whose accounts are being serviced by federal loan servicers; it excludes loans in statuses such as grace, in-school, deferment, and forbearance.
In June 2026, more than 80% of ED-serviced recipients with loans in active repayment were current, defined by FSA as on time or less than 31 days delinquent. About 3.5 million recipients were more than 30 days delinquent, including approximately 1.5 million in late-stage delinquency who could enter default within the following six months.
31+ Day Delinquency in the Active Repayment Portfolio
Recipient measures apply only to ED-serviced borrowers in active repayment. Dollar rates measure the share of active-repayment balances that were 31 or more days delinquent.
| Reporting Date | Recipients 31+ Days Delinquent | Recipient Rate | 31+ Day Delinquency Rate by Balance | Late-Stage Delinquency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 31, 2025 | More than 4.0 million | 23.2% | 18.6% | About 1.8 million |
| Mar. 31, 2026 | About 3.5 million | 20.0% | 15.5% | About 1.4 million |
| Jun. 30, 2026 | About 3.5 million | Nearly 20% | 15.7% | About 1.5 million |
For comparison, FSA reported a 12.7% active-repayment 31+ day delinquency rate by dollar balance in December 2019, the last quarter before the federal payment pause.
31+ Day Delinquency Rate by Outstanding Balance
Selected reporting dates for ED-serviced federal loans in active repayment.
Federal Student Aid quarterly portfolio update. December 2019 is shown as a pre-pause comparison rather than as part of a continuous series.
The December 2019 and post-2025 values are not a seamless historical series. FSA cautions that repayment data after the three-and-a-half-year payment pause were affected by the payment restart and temporary administrative programs. The 2019 figure is therefore best treated as a reference point rather than the previous observation in a continuous trend.
Income-Driven Repayment Enrollment
Approximately 13 million Direct Loan and ED-serviced FFEL borrowers in repayment, deferment, or forbearance were enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan as of June 2026. That represented about 45% of the unduplicated ED-serviced repayment-plan population.
IDR loans accounted for an even larger portion of outstanding balances. About $792 billion was enrolled in IDR plans, equal to 62% of the ED-serviced repayment-plan balance. The comparable balance was about $740 billion in June 2025, when IDR represented 56% of the repayment-plan balance.
Income-Driven Repayment Measures
Direct Loan and ED-serviced FFEL repayment-plan data reported by Federal Student Aid.
| Measure | June 2025 | June 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| IDR outstanding balance | $740 billion | $792 billion | +$52 billion |
| IDR share of repayment-plan balance | 56% | 62% | +6 percentage points |
| PAYE enrollment | 1.3 million | 1.6 million | +0.3 million |
| IBR enrollment | 3.0 million | 4.0 million | +1.0 million |
The June 2026 IDR figures still include borrowers who remained in a nonpayment status under the former Saving on a Valuable Education plan. FSA reported that SAVE enrollment had fallen by almost 1.2 million borrowers over the prior year as borrowers began moving to other repayment arrangements.
Federal Repayment Plans Changed in July 2026
The latest federal portfolio statistics on this page end on June 30, 2026, while several repayment-plan changes took effect on July 1. The dates matter: the June portfolio tables do not yet measure enrollment in the new Repayment Assistance Plan.
Federal Student Aid reported that RAP became available in July 2026 and that RAP enrollment would first appear in a later quarterly report. Federal Student Aid also states that the SAVE plan is no longer available following a federal court order.
Selected Income-Driven Repayment Rules in 2026
General federal rules only. Eligibility can depend on loan type, disbursement date, consolidation history, and borrower status.
| Plan | Monthly Payment Formula | Repayment Period | 2026 Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) | 1%–10% of adjusted gross income divided by 12, reduced by $50 per claimed dependent; minimum $10 monthly payment | 30 years | Available for most eligible Direct Loans; the only IDR option for borrowers whose loans are all disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 |
| Income-Based Repayment (IBR) | Generally 15% of discretionary income, or 10% for qualifying new borrowers, subject to the Standard Plan payment cap | 25 years, or 20 years for qualifying new borrowers | Available for eligible loans subject to federal loan-type and disbursement rules |
| Pay As You Earn (PAYE) | 10% of discretionary income, subject to eligibility and payment-cap rules | 20 years | Available only for qualifying older loans and scheduled to end no later than July 1, 2028 |
| Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) | Lesser of 20% of discretionary income or an income-adjusted payment based on a 12-year fixed plan | 25 years | Available only for qualifying older loans and scheduled to end no later than July 1, 2028 |
Fixed-payment repayment plans remain separate from IDR. Federal Student Aid states that borrowers who do not select another eligible plan can be placed in either the Standard Repayment Plan or the Tiered Standard Plan depending on when their loans were first disbursed. Fixed-plan payments are based primarily on the loan balance, interest rate, and repayment period rather than the borrower’s income.
Data Notes
- Latest portfolio period: the latest federal portfolio dataset used for the repayment statistics on this page is June 30, 2026.
- Federal portfolio only: the repayment-status statistics on this page describe federal student loans. Private student loan repayment data are not combined with the Federal Student Aid portfolio.
- Recipient counts can overlap: FSA counts recipients at the loan level for status reporting. One person can therefore appear in more than one status category.
- Active repayment has a narrower definition: borrowers in grace, in-school, deferment, forbearance, bankruptcy, or disability statuses are excluded from FSA’s active-repayment delinquency measure.
- Rounded values: many FSA quarterly figures are published as approximate counts or rounded billions. DebtData calculations based on those numbers, including dollar changes shown above, are therefore approximate.
- June data precede the July plan changes: the June 30, 2026 portfolio release does not yet contain RAP enrollment because RAP began in July 2026.
- Default support portal: the Defaulted Loans Support Center launched on September 30, 2026, after the June portfolio reporting date. Its launch does not change the June repayment, delinquency, or default counts.
- Pre-pause comparisons require caution: FSA states that recent repayment data are not directly comparable with earlier periods because of the federal payment pause and subsequent temporary repayment programs.
Sources
- Federal Student Aid Posts Updated Reports to FSA Data Center — September 22, 2026 — Federal Student Aid, portfolio data through June 30, 2026; used for current portfolio size, repayment status, default, forbearance, deferment, delinquency, and IDR measures.
- Federal Student Aid Posts Updated Reports to FSA Data Center — June 23, 2026 — Federal Student Aid, portfolio data through March 31, 2026; used for quarterly repayment, forbearance, default, delinquency, and IDR comparisons.
- Federal Student Aid Posts Updated Reports to FSA Data Center — March 13, 2026 — Federal Student Aid, portfolio data through December 31, 2025; used for the December 2025 comparison and December 2019 delinquency benchmark.
- U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of the Treasury Launch New Defaulted Loans Support Center — U.S. Department of Education, September 30, 2026; launch date and online rehabilitation, consolidation, payment, document-upload, electronic-signature, and application-tracking functions.
- Defaulted Loans Support Center — Federal Student Aid; official online portal for borrowers with defaulted federal student loans.
- Top FAQs About Income-Driven Repayment Plans — Federal Student Aid, published August 2026; used for RAP, IBR, PAYE, and ICR payment formulas, repayment periods, loan eligibility rules, SAVE status, and the July 2028 PAYE/ICR transition.
- How To Prepare for Student Loan Payments — Federal Student Aid; used for the distinction between income-driven and fixed-payment plans and Standard/Tiered Standard default enrollment.
Cite This Page
DebtData.org. (2026). Student Loan Repayment. https://debtdata.org/student-loan-repayment/“Student Loan Repayment.” DebtData.org, October 2, 2026, https://debtdata.org/student-loan-repayment/.DebtData.org. “Student Loan Repayment.” Last modified October 2, 2026. https://debtdata.org/student-loan-repayment/.