U.S. student loan debt totaled $1.8582 trillion at the end of June 2026 under the Federal Reserve Board’s G.19 measure of student loans owned and securitized. The Q2 2026 figure is preliminary and includes Direct Loans, Federal Family Education Loan Program loans, Perkins loans, and private student loans without government guarantees.
The total was about $4.5 billion lower than in Q1 2026 but $55.6 billion higher than in Q2 2025. Those changes equal approximately -0.2% quarter over quarter and +3.1% year over year, based on DebtData calculations using the Federal Reserve’s published rounded balances.
$1.858 trillion
-$4.5 billion
+$55.6 billion
$1.605 trillion
Total Student Loan Debt by Quarter
The Federal Reserve’s student-loan series rose from $1.8026 trillion in Q2 2025 to $1.8582 trillion in Q2 2026. Most of the increase occurred between Q2 2025 and Q1 2026. The balance then declined slightly in the latest quarter.
U.S. Student Loan Debt, Q2 2025–Q2 2026
Student loans owned and securitized, not seasonally adjusted. Billions of dollars. Q2 2026 is preliminary.
| Period | Student Loan Balance | Change From Prior Quarter |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2025 | $1,802.6 billion | — |
| Q3 2025 | $1,833.0 billion | +$30.4 billion |
| Q4 2025 | $1,834.7 billion | +$1.7 billion |
| Q1 2026 | $1,862.7 billion | +$28.0 billion |
| Q2 2026 | $1,858.2 billion | -$4.5 billion |
U.S. Student Loan Debt, Q2 2025–Q2 2026
Federal Reserve G.19 student loans owned and securitized, billions of dollars.
Federal Reserve Board, Consumer Credit (G.19), Q2 2026 release.
What changed over the latest year
- The published balance increased by approximately $55.6 billion between Q2 2025 and Q2 2026, a 3.1% increase based on rounded Federal Reserve levels.
- Q1 2026 was the highest point in this five-quarter window at $1.8627 trillion.
- The Q2 2026 balance was approximately $4.5 billion below Q1, a decline of about 0.2%.
How Much Student Debt Is Held by the Federal Government?
The Federal Reserve reported $1.6051 trillion in nonrevolving consumer credit held by the federal government in Q2 2026. Its G.19 definition for this holder category covers federal Direct Loans, Perkins loans, and FFEL loans purchased by the government.
Compared with the $1.8582 trillion G.19 student-loan total, federal government-held loans represented approximately 86.4% of the balance. The remaining $253.1 billion, or 13.6%, was not held by the federal government. Both shares are DebtData calculations from the published rounded balances.
Student Loan Debt by Government-Held Status
Q2 2026 Federal Reserve G.19 balances. The non-government-held amount and shares are DebtData calculations.
| Holder Group | Balance | Share of G.19 Student Loan Total |
|---|---|---|
| Federal government-held | $1,605.1 billion | 86.4% |
| Not held by the federal government | $253.1 billion | 13.6% |
Government-Held Share of U.S. Student Loan Debt
Q2 2026 balances in billions of dollars under the Federal Reserve G.19 definitions.
Federal Reserve Board, Consumer Credit (G.19), Q2 2026; non-government-held balance calculated as total student loans minus federal government-held credit.
The $253.1 billion not held by the federal government should not be labeled private student loan debt. The G.19 student-loan total also includes legacy FFEL loans held outside the federal government, while separately including private student loans without government guarantees.
Why Official Student Debt Totals Differ
There is no single federal data system that produces every student-loan measure from the same underlying records. Three official sources publish totals that answer different questions.
Official Measures of U.S. Student Loan Debt
The balances should not be combined or treated as interchangeable because their coverage and reporting systems differ.
| Source and Measure | Reported Balance | Period | What the Measure Represents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Reserve Board G.19 student loans | $1,858.2 billion | June 2026, preliminary | Student loans owned and securitized, including Direct Loans, FFEL loans, Perkins loans, and private student loans without government guarantees. |
| New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel student debt | $1,651 billion | Q2 2026 | Student-loan balances appearing in the New York Fed’s nationally representative Consumer Credit Panel drawn from Equifax credit-report data. |
| Federal Student Aid federal loan portfolio | About $1.7 trillion | March 31, 2026 | Outstanding federal student loans across approximately 42.6 million recipients. FSA reported more than $1.64 trillion in the federally managed portion of the portfolio. |
The Federal Reserve Board figure is the broadest of these three measures for the search question “total student loan debt” because its student-loan memo item explicitly includes federal program loans and private student loans without government guarantees. The New York Fed figure instead measures balances recorded in consumer credit files, while Federal Student Aid tracks the federal loan portfolio.
The difference between the Federal Reserve G.19 total and the Federal Student Aid portfolio is not a valid estimate of private student loan debt. The sources use different periods, accounting coverage, ownership definitions, and underlying reporting systems.
Data Notes
- The $1.8582 trillion headline figure is the Federal Reserve Board G.19 student-loan memo item for June and Q2 2026 and was marked preliminary in the August 7, 2026 release.
- Quarterly changes and percentage changes shown on this page are DebtData calculations from published rounded balances, so they are approximate.
- G.19 defines its student-loan memo item to include FFEL Program loans, Direct Loans, Perkins loans, and private student loans without government guarantees.
- The New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel is based on a nationally representative sample of Equifax credit-report data. Its $1.651 trillion Q2 2026 measure is therefore not the same series as the Federal Reserve Board G.19 total.
- Federal Student Aid’s latest quarterly portfolio release available for this comparison covers data through March 31, 2026 rather than June 30, 2026.
Sources
- Consumer Credit (G.19) — Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, June 2026 data released August 7, 2026; student-loan total, quarterly series, holder balance, and definitions.
- Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, Q2 2026 — Federal Reserve Bank of New York, consumer credit data through June 2026; student-loan balance measured from the Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax.
- Federal Student Aid Posts Updated Reports to FSA Data Center — Federal Student Aid, portfolio reports through March 31, 2026; federal student-loan portfolio balance, recipient count, and federally managed portfolio.
Cite This Page
DebtData.org. (2026). Total Student Loan Debt. https://debtdata.org/total-student-loan-debt/“Total Student Loan Debt.” DebtData.org, August 30, 2026, https://debtdata.org/total-student-loan-debt/.DebtData.org. “Total Student Loan Debt.” Last modified August 30, 2026. https://debtdata.org/total-student-loan-debt/.