As of March 31, 2026, borrowers reported in Texas held $138.3 billion in outstanding federal student loans across 3,949,800 borrowers. Dividing the reported balance by the reported borrower count gives an average outstanding balance of about $35,014 per borrower. Texas had the largest borrower count and the second-largest total balance among the 52 state and jurisdiction rows in Federal Student Aid’s location data.
Texas Holds the Second-Largest Federal Student Loan Balance
California was the only listed location with a larger federal student loan balance, at $156.7 billion. Texas followed at $138.3 billion, while Florida was third at $113.1 billion and New York was fourth at $99.9 billion. Texas ranked differently on a per-borrower basis: its calculated average of $35,014 placed it 39th among the 52 listed jurisdictions when the averages are ranked from highest to lowest.
These figures describe outstanding federal student loan balances by borrower location. They are not the amount borrowed by students attending Texas colleges, average debt at graduation, or a combined federal-and-private student debt total.
The full state and jurisdiction table is available in Student Loan Debt by State.
Texas Compared With Neighboring States
Texas’s average outstanding federal balance per borrower was below Louisiana, Arkansas, and New Mexico, but above Oklahoma. Because each average uses the same March 31, 2026 Federal Student Aid location file, the comparison keeps the reporting period and federal-loan definition aligned.
Federal student loan balances in Texas and neighboring states
Outstanding federal balance by borrower residence, March 31, 2026. Average balance is calculated from the reported balance and borrower count.
| State | Outstanding balance | Borrowers | Average balance per borrower |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | $25.1 billion | 694,000 | $36,167 |
| Arkansas | $14.5 billion | 408,400 | $35,504 |
| New Mexico | $8.0 billion | 226,000 | $35,398 |
| Texas | $138.3 billion | 3,949,800 | $35,014 |
| Oklahoma | $17.1 billion | 510,700 | $33,483 |
Average Federal Student Loan Balance per Borrower
Texas and neighboring states, based on borrower location as of March 31, 2026.
Federal Student Aid, Portfolio by Location, March 31, 2026.
How Texas compares with its neighbors
- Texas’s average balance was $1,153 below Louisiana’s and $1,531 above Oklahoma’s.
- The five-state spread was $2,684, from $33,483 in Oklahoma to $36,167 in Louisiana.
- Texas’s much larger total balance reflects its far larger borrower count; total debt and average debt answer different questions.
What the Texas Location Measure Includes
Federal Student Aid’s location report assigns borrowers according to their reported location, not according to the state where they attended college. A borrower can attend school in Texas and later be counted in another state, or attend school elsewhere and later be counted in Texas.
The balance is an outstanding federal-loan measure. It does not represent a single year’s borrowing, and it should not be read as average debt at graduation. Private student loans are also outside this federal location series.
Texas Uses a Separate Graduate Debt Measure
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board tracks undergraduate debt for graduates of Texas public institutions using a different measure from the federal borrower-location data. In its current student-debt report, the agency defines manageable debt as monthly student loan payments below 10% of projected earnings five years after completion.
The report uses 2022 wage data for students who graduated in 2017. At the statewide level, Texas reported that it had reached its 95% goal for graduates having either no undergraduate student debt or manageable debt. Among bachelor’s degree graduates from four-year public institutions, more than 95% fell into those two categories.
The Texas graduate measure and the Federal Student Aid location measure are not directly comparable. They use different populations, time points, and definitions: one evaluates debt relative to later earnings for graduates of Texas public institutions, while the other reports current outstanding federal balances for borrowers living in Texas.
Data Notes
- The federal location figures used here are from the March 31, 2026 reporting period. Federal Student Aid announced on June 23, 2026 that its quarterly Data Center reports had been refreshed through that date.
- Federal Student Aid reports Texas with $138.3 billion in outstanding balance and 3,949,800 borrowers. The $35,014 average is a DebtData calculation using those published values.
- Because the balance is published to the nearest tenth of a billion dollars and the borrower count to the nearest hundred, the calculated per-borrower average is approximate.
- The #2 balance rank, #1 borrower-count rank, and 39th-place average-balance position use the 52 rows for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
- The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board measure uses a graduate cohort and wage-based repayment threshold and should remain separate from the federal location series.
Sources
- Federal Student Aid Portfolio by Location — U.S. Department of Education, Office of Federal Student Aid; Texas and neighboring-state borrower counts and outstanding federal balances 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.
- Making Student Debt Manageable — Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board; graduate debt definition, cohort, wage period, and statewide manageable-debt findings.
Cite This Page
DebtData.org. (2026). Texas Student Loan Debt. https://debtdata.org/texas-student-loan-debt/“Texas Student Loan Debt.” DebtData.org, September 17, 2026, https://debtdata.org/texas-student-loan-debt/.DebtData.org. “Texas Student Loan Debt.” Published September 17, 2026. https://debtdata.org/texas-student-loan-debt/.