Today, approximately 43 million Americans hold a federal student loan. When these borrowers fall behind on payments, they become delinquent on their loans; once the loans reach 270 days past due, borrowers are in default. As of March 2021, roughly 1 in 5 borrowers was in default, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education. Failing to…

More than a million federal student loan borrowers default each year, and the U.S. Department of Education reports that as of June 2020, roughly 1 in 5 borrowers with federal student loans was in default. Since that time, the coronavirus pandemic and related economic downturn have continued to take a significant toll on households and businesses…

Student debt levels were already pronounced before the pandemic hit, with $91.1 billion in annual federal student lending in 2019-20, up from $20.7 billion in 1990-91. Over that same period, per-student borrowing rose from $2,110 to $6,276, after adjusting for inflation. Evidence available as of Nov. 20, 2021, suggests that the COVID-19 downturn…