Student Loan Statistics 2025: Key Facts and Figures Shaping Borrowers’ Futures

Student loans have become a defining financial issue for millions of Americans. Whether it’s the dream of a better life through education or the burden of debt that follows, student loans impact every corner of society. The rising cost of education and the growing debt load make this an issue that demands attention. Understanding the statistics behind student loans provides insight into the broader financial struggles faced by current and former students.

Editor’s Choice: Key Student Loan Statistics

45.3 million Americans currently carry student loan debt in 2025, reflecting sustained borrowing levels despite ongoing policy debates around forgiveness and repayment relief.
Total student loan debt in the United States has reached approximately $1.83 trillion in 2025, continuing to rank as the second-largest category of consumer debt after mortgages.
The average student loan debt per borrower has climbed to $38,290 in 2025, as education costs and interest accumulation continue to outpace repayment for many.
53% of student loan borrowers are under the age of 35 in 2025, showing how the burden continues to weigh heavily on Millennials and Gen Z.
Over 91.5% of all student loans remain federally owned in 2025, while private student loans make up the remaining 8.5%, often with less flexible repayment options.
14.4% of U.S. adults currently owe student loan debt in 2025, impacting major life decisions including homeownership, savings, marriage, and retirement planning.
The student loan delinquency rate stands at approximately 8.7% in 2025, showing modest improvement but still reflecting ongoing repayment challenges in a post-pandemic economic landscape.

2025 - Overview of Student Loan Borrowers and Debt in the U.S.

Student Loan Debt Statistics

Student loan debt has increased by approximately 317% since 2004 2025, underscoring the long-term impact of rising tuition costs, interest accrual, and a growing population of borrowers seeking higher education.
Graduates of public universities in the U.S. now borrow an average of $31,180 to finance their education in 2025, reflecting modest annual increases in in-state tuition and living expenses.
For students attending private nonprofit institutions, the average debt upon graduation has risen to $35,120 in 2025, driven by higher tuition rates and limited institutional aid compared to public colleges.
As of 2025, approximately 12.8 million borrowers are in the active repayment stage, contributing monthly toward reducing their balances amid the resumed federal loan payments and income-driven repayment adjustments.
About 66.2% of students graduating from four-year institutions in 2024 took on student loans, indicating continued reliance on borrowing to complete undergraduate degrees.
Graduate students now account for roughly 41% of total U.S. student loan debt in 2025, despite comprising a smaller portion of overall borrowers, due to the larger loan limits and higher tuition costs at the graduate level.
The average monthly student loan payment stands at $410 in 2025, up from $393, continuing to represent a substantial share of monthly income, especially for borrowers in urban areas and entry-level roles.

Median Federal Loan Balance Remaining After 12 Years

White women still owe 72% of their federal student loan balance.
White men owe 56% after 12 years, among the lowest across all groups.
Black women owe 113%, meaning their balance has grown over time.
Black men owe 111%, showing similarly high loan persistence.
Hispanic women have 86% of their loan balance remaining.
Hispanic men still owe 79% after 12 years.
Asian women owe just 47%, the lowest among all women.
Asian men have 45% of their loan remaining—the lowest overall.
Multiracial women owe 80% of their original balance.
Multiracial men owe 76% after 12 years.

Debt Distribution by Demographics

Women hold nearly two-thirds of the nation’s student loan debt, amounting to approximately $929 billion.
Black borrowers owe, on average, $25,000 more than their white counterparts four years after graduation.
Hispanic borrowers are more likely to default on their loans, with a default rate of 21% compared to 9% for white borrowers.
First-generation college students are 4 times more likely to borrow student loans than students whose parents have college degrees.
LGBTQ borrowers face significantly higher debt, with an average of $16,000 more in student loan debt compared to non-LGBTQ borrowers.
The gender pay gap exacerbates the issue, as women need an average of 2 years longer to pay off their student loans than men.
Borrowers in rural areas are more likely to experience financial hardship in repayment, with 33% of rural borrowers defaulting within five years of graduation.

Average Student Loan Debt by Age, Race, and Gender

Borrowers aged 25 to 34 hold the highest average student loan balance, approximately $41,300.
Older Americans, aged 50 and above, hold 22% of the nation’s student loan debt, with balances averaging $45,000.
On average, Black graduates owe $52,000 four years after graduation, compared to $28,000 for white graduates.
Asian borrowers tend to have the lowest default rates, with only 2.7% defaulting within three years of leaving school.
Women borrowers, especially those aged 35 to 49, owe an average of $47,000, driven by both undergraduate and graduate student loans.
White men are more likely to pay off their student loans faster, with an average payoff time of 12 years compared to 21 years for Black women.
Borrowers aged 60 and older still owe $98 billion in student loans, highlighting the long-term burden of debt.

Student Loan Debt Inflation

The average cost of a four-year degree has increased by approximately 222% since the 1980s, as of 2025, continuing to far outpace median wage growth, and significantly contributing to ballooning student loan balances.
Graduate school debt has grown by 53% over the past 20 years, with the average graduate now owing over $73,500 in 2025, largely due to higher tuition at professional programs and graduate-level borrowing limits.
From 2020 to 2025, the total national student loan debt has grown by 9.4%, reaching $1.83 trillion, despite extended repayment pauses and forgiveness initiatives, reflecting continued enrollment and borrowing trends.
Private student loans now account for 8.2% of total student loan debt in 2025, due to increased demand for funding beyond federal aid caps.
On average, interest on student loans adds approximately $4,300 to a borrower’s total balance over the life of the loan in 2025, depending on repayment plan and rate type, further complicating long-term debt payoff.
Tuition inflation has continued to rise at an average annual rate of 4.8% as of 2025, contributing to the widening gap between college costs and income growth, and straining financial aid systems.
Living costs for college students, including housing, transportation, and meals, have increased by 17% over the past five years, placing additional financial pressure on students and often requiring supplemental borrowing beyond tuition.

Federal and Private Student Loan Comparison

Federal student loans make up over 92% of all student loan debt, amounting to about $1.63 trillion.

Federal Loans Dominating the Student Debt Landscape

The average interest rate for federal student loans is 4.99% for undergraduate loans, while private student loan rates range from 3.2% to 13.9%, depending on credit scores and other factors.
Private student loans account for $139.8 billion of the total student loan debt in the U.S., up from $118 billion five years ago.
Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, available for federal loans, cap monthly payments at 10% to 20% of discretionary income, while private loans typically do not offer such options.
Federal student loans offer borrower protections, such as deferment, forbearance, and loan forgiveness programs, which are not available with most private student loans.
About 90% of borrowers use federal student loans, yet private loans are growing in popularity due to limits on federal borrowing and rising education costs.
Federal student loans provide fixed interest rates, whereas private loans often come with variable rates, adding uncertainty to repayment.

Average Student Loan Debt by Degree Type

The average student loan debt for a Bachelor’s degree is $37,337.
For those pursuing a Master’s degree, the average debt rises to $83,651.
Ph.D. holders carry the highest average debt, totaling $125,276.

Student Loan Forgiveness Statistics

As of 2025, over 1.05 million borrowers have received relief through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, canceling more than $93 billion in federal student loan debt, thanks to expanded eligibility and temporary waiver programs.
Approximately 34% of all federal student loan borrowers now qualify for some form of forgiveness, including Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) options that allow for cancellation after 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments.
The Biden administration’s revised loan forgiveness efforts, including targeted debt relief through SAVE and IDR adjustment programs, have impacted more than 44 million borrowers to date, with tens of billions in total debt cancellation either completed or underway.
The Teacher Loan Forgiveness program still offers up to $17,500 in forgiveness, but in 2025, fewer than 27% of eligible educators utilized the benefit due to complex application processes and program overlap confusion.
The Borrower Defense to Repayment initiative has now approved over $17.6 billion in loan cancellations for students misled or defrauded by their institutions, following expanded eligibility criteria and faster adjudication processes.
Healthcare professionals in underserved areas may qualify for up to $50,000 in student loan forgiveness through the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), which remains fully funded and continues to support rural and low-income community staffing.
Approval rates for PSLF applications have risen significantly since major reforms in 2022; as of 2025, the approval rate stands at approximately 13%, a notable improvement over the 2% rate recorded between 2017 and 2020.

Student Loan Repayment Statistics

As of 2025, approximately 24.2 million borrowers are actively making payments on their student loans, while around 18.7 million are not, due to deferment, forbearance, or temporary payment adjustments under new federal repayment programs.
The average time to pay off a student loan is 20 years, with some borrowers taking up to 30 years for larger balances.

Long-Term Repayment Trends in Student Loans

Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans are now used by 36% of federal loan borrowers in 2025, with monthly payments calculated based on discretionary income and household size, and growing enrollment under the SAVE Plan.
61% of borrowers who default on their loans owe less than $20,000, demonstrating that even modest balances can become unmanageable, especially when paired with unemployment, underemployment, or lack of repayment support.
During and after the COVID-19 emergency, over 10.5 million borrowers utilized deferment or forbearance through 2025, with many transitioning into IDR or forgiveness pathways post-pause, contributing to temporary declines in delinquency.
Around 26.5% of borrowers have experienced at least one change in repayment plan, typically moving to more affordable structures like IDR, graduated repayment, or consolidation to manage monthly burdens.
Interest capitalization, when accrued interest is added to the principal, can increase a borrower’s total loan amount by 11% to 26% in 2025, especially during transitions between deferment, forbearance, and repayment plans, contributing to longer payoff timelines.

Student Loan Debt Among U.S. Adults by Age Group

25% of U.S. adults aged 18–39 have outstanding student loan debt — the highest share among all age groups.
14% of adults aged 40–49 still carry student loan debt.
7% of adults aged 50–59 have remaining education debt.
Only 2% of adults aged 60+ are still paying off student loans.
On average, 13% of all U.S. adults owe student loan debt from their own education.

Recent Developments

The federal student loan payment pause, which began in March 2020, officially ended in October 2023, and by mid-2025, all federal borrowers will have resumed payments under new repayment terms, including automatic enrollment in income-driven plans for some.
The Supreme Court ruling in 2023 struck down the Biden administration’s broad forgiveness plan (up to $20,000 per borrower), but new targeted relief measures and expanded IDR and PSLF adjustments have provided cancellation to over 4 million borrowers by 2025.
The SAVE Plan, fully implemented in 2024, now caps monthly payments for undergraduate loans at 5% of discretionary income and has significantly reduced or eliminated payments for borrowers earning less than $33,000 annually.
States such as California, New York, and Illinois have expanded state-run student loan forgiveness programs in 2025, offering relief for public sector employees, healthcare workers, and teachers in underserved areas.
The revamped FAFSA system, launched in early 2024, has simplified the student aid process for over 17 million applicants as of 2025, with early data showing a 12% increase in Pell Grant eligibility due to the updated formula.
The student loan default rate, which had remained artificially low during the pandemic-era pause, is now projected to reach 9.1% by late 2025, as millions of borrowers transition back into active repayment and struggle with accumulated interest.
While broad-based student loan forgiveness legislation remains stalled at the federal level, ongoing targeted relief programs, administrative adjustments, and new state-level initiatives continue to deliver debt relief to select borrower groups in 2025.

Conclusion

The student loan crisis continues to shape the financial futures of millions of Americans. With 1 in 8 Americans carrying some form of student debt, the effects ripple across housing markets, retirement plans, and overall economic stability. Recent policy changes and forgiveness programs offer some hope, but the underlying challenges of escalating tuition costs and long-term repayment struggles remain. Understanding the depth and breadth of this issue is critical as policymakers and borrowers alike navigate the future of student loans.

Sources

Statista

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Federal Student Aid

Morning Consult National Tracking Poll

Pew Research Center

Forbes

The Institute for College Access and Success

Barry Elad

Barry Elad is a dedicated tech and finance enthusiast, passionate about making technology and fintech concepts accessible to everyone. He specializes in collecting key statistics and breaking down complex information, focusing on the benefits that software and financial tools bring to everyday life. Figuring out how software works and sharing its value with users is his favorite pastime. When he's not analyzing apps or programs, Barry enjoys creating healthy recipes, practicing yoga, meditating, and spending time in nature with his child. His mission is to simplify finance and tech insights to help people make informed decisions.