Student loan debt stood at $1.841 trillion as of the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the Federal Reserve. That figure includes federal and private loans. The average federal student loan balance per borrower reached a record $39,633 as of December 2025, per the Department of Education.
Federal loans account for more than 90% of all student loan debt. The remaining roughly $145 billion is in private loans, which carry fewer protections and no path to federal forgiveness.
About 24% of borrowers with payments due are behind on those payments, according to the Federal Reserve. Delinquency rates spiked in 2025 after the end of the pandemic-era payment pause. In May 2025, the Trump administration restarted collections on defaulted loans, including wage garnishment.
Total student loan debt: $1.8 trillion
Student loan debt totaled $1.8 trillion as of the fourth quarter of 2025, per the Federal Reserve.
This includes both federal and private student loans. That figure includes both federal and private loans. Federal student loan debt alone stands at $1.696 trillion.
Student loan debt by year
Student loan debt has risen sharply over the past two decades. Total outstanding debt was roughly $481 billion in early 2006, per the Federal Reserve. By 2012, it had doubled. It has more than tripled since then.
Debt declined in three consecutive quarters in 2023, the longest streak of declines since at least 2006, but rose in five of the six quarters that followed, per Federal Reserve data.