US student loan delinquencies are exploding:
The number student loan borrowers that are severely delinquent is up to a record 3.62 million.
The number of federal loan recipients 271+ days past due is now 8 TIMES higher than the pre-2020 average.
This comes as the grace period… pic.twitter.com/kCliDUSadP
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) February 3, 2026
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York confirms that the flow of student loans into serious delinquency reached 14.26 percent in late 2025, a figure that dwarfs the 10.5 percent peak seen during the height of the 2013 debt crisis. This is not a statistical anomaly; it is the direct result of the “on-ramp” period ending and the Trump administration resuming aggressive collections, including wage garnishments that were frozen for nearly five years. With 3.62 million borrowers now 271 days or more past due, the system is witnessing a “default cliff” that was entirely predictable once interest started accruing again in a high-inflation environment. People are ignoring the fact that while other debt categories like mortgages remain stable, student loans have become the primary driver of credit score destruction for an entire generation. We are looking at a structural failure where the debt is growing faster than the economy’s ability to service it, and the June 2025 reporting deadline was the match that finally lit the fuse.