Student Loan Delinquency Is Hitting Older Borrowers Hardest
Summary
A Credit Karma report found that Generation X borrowers had the highest student loan delinquency rate among Gen X, millennials and Gen Z in its third-quarter 2026 data. Federal Reserve Bank of New York data also showed that borrowers entering default in late 2025 or early 2026 were older on average than borrowers who entered default before the pandemic, and many had fallen behind on other debts.Key Facts
- Credit Karma’s report examined TransUnion data for 24.2 million members with open student loans at the end of the third quarter of 2026.
- The reported delinquency rate was 10.4 percent for Gen X, 9.7 percent for millennials and 9.6 percent for Gen Z.
- Borrowers who entered federal student loan default in late 2025 or the first quarter of 2026 averaged 38.9 years old, compared with 36.4 for those entering default before the pandemic, according to the New York Fed.
- More than 9.3 million borrowers were in federal student loan default as of June, about 400,000 more than in March, according to Federal Student Aid.
- Federal Student Aid reported that 42.3 million recipients owed more than $1.7 trillion in federal student loans as of June.
- Among recent defaulters with auto loans, nearly 40 percent were behind on those loans; 56 percent of those with a credit card were past due, and 20 percent of mortgage holders were behind on their mortgage.
- Gen X borrowers in Credit Karma’s report had a combined $264.3 billion in student debt and a median balance of $30,600.
- Baby boomers had an 8.3 percent delinquency rate, while the rate for the Silent Generation was 7 percent.
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