What is the average student loan debt?
As of June 2026, the average federal student loan borrower owed $40,800. That is 13.8% lower than the high of $47,300 in June 2020, when accounting for inflation.
$40.8K
These numbers don’t include private student loan debt, which is a minority of educational debt. Federal loans accounted for 92.6% of all outstanding student loan debt, according to US Department of Education and Federal Reserve data.
In June 2026, the average federal student loan borrower held $40,800 in debt.
Average federal student loan obligation by borrower, December 2012 to June 2026
How many people have federal student loan debt, and how much do they owe?
Roughly 42.3 million people held federal student loan debt in June 2026, down 3.4% from a peak of 43.8 million in December 2022.
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About 73.3% owed less than $40,000 and 8.3% owed more than $100,000 as of March 2026.
About 8.3% of federal student loan borrowers owed more than $100,000, as of March 2026.
Federal student loan borrowers by amount owed, March 2026
How many people are behind on loan payments?
According to the Department of Education's loan-status data, 9.3 million federal student loan recipients had loans classified as in default as of June 2026. This category includes loans more than 360 days delinquent.
Between March 2020 and August 2023, required payments on federally held student loans were suspended, with interest rates set at 0%, initially under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In June 2023, about 28 million borrowers were in forbearance, the highest number during this period.
About 9.3 million federal student loan recipients were more than 360 days behind on payments, as of June 2026.
Federal student loan recipients by status of loan, September 2016 to June 2026
Does student loan debt differ by age group?
Average federal student loan debt generally increases with age, from $13,900 for borrowers 24 and younger to $49,000 among people 50 to 61. Borrowers aged 62 and older averaged less, at $45,490.
Although the 50-61 cohort had the highest average balance, it only made up 14.3% of all federal student loan borrowers in March 2026.
Borrowers aged 50 to 61 have the most federal student loan debt on average.
Average federal student loan debt by age group of borrower, March 2026
What programs lead to the largest loan awards?
During the 2024-2025 academic year, 6.6 million recipients in 1,388 different programs received federal loans. The 17,900 or so people studying dentistry received an average loan award of $91,276, more than any other program. The program with the most recipients was registered nursing, whose 443,000 recipients received average awards of $10,202.
These figures represent annual federal student loan amounts, not total student debt. Borrowers may take out loans over multiple years or supplement their federal loans with private loans.
Across all programs, federal borrowers got an average loan of $12,539 for the year.
During the 2024-2025 school year, borrowers studying dentistry received an average loan of $91,276, more than any other program.
Average annual federal student loan disbursement, by program of study (2024-2025). Size of circles represents the number of recipients from that program.
What are the different kinds of federal student loans?
There are five categories of federal educational loans:
- Direct subsidized: These awards max out at $5,500 a year and are limited to undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need. As of June 2026, 29.9 million people owed an average of $10,000 in subsidized loans.
- Direct unsubsidized: These are available to any undergraduate, graduate, or professional student regardless of need, with awards as high as $50,000 for students in professional degree programs like law or medicine. The 30.9 million borrowers with unsubsidized debt owed on average $20,800.
- Direct PLUS for graduate or professional students: The 1.9 million borrowers who held this debt owed an average of $69,400. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act began phasing out eligibility for these loans on July 1, 2026.
- Direct PLUS loans for parents: These loans go to parents, who are responsible for paying them for dependent undergraduates. The 3.5 million borrowers with this debt owed on average $32,900.
- Consolidation loans: Students entering loan repayment with multiple loan types can choose to take out a consolidation loan that combines all their loans into one — the consolidation loan pays off all the individual loans, leaving the person with one monthly payment for the consolidation loan. The 9.1 million borrowers who held this debt owed on average $58,500.
There are also still around 800,000 people who are paying off Perkins loans, a subsidized loan program discontinued in 2017, with an average of $3,400 in debt.
People who borrowed using Grad PLUS loans owed an average of $69,400 in debt.
Average debt borrowers owed by loan type, June 2026
Keep exploring
- How did the US reach $1.6 trillion in student debt? - Forty-two million people, or one in six American adults, currently carry a federal student loan. The nation’s overall student debt reached $1.6 trillion in June 2019. What’s behind this large number?
- How much student debt do Americans owe? - Student debt data highlights racial disparities for Black Americans.
- The price of college is rising faster than wages for people with degrees - Between 2000 and 2019, the price the average college student paid for tuition, fees, and room and board increased 59%.
- How much debt does the average person in the US have?
Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
Page sources
USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.
