The Kobeissi Letter(@KobeissiLetter):Americans are defaulting on their student loan debt at a record pace: Delinquent federal student loan debt jumped +$12.2 billion in Q1 2026, to $171.4 billion, an all-time high. This has officially surpassed the $166.8 billion peak recorded in Q4 2019. At the same time, the proportion of seriously delinquent loans rose +0.7 percentage points, to 10.3%, the highest since Q1 2020. This comes as 2.6 million borrowers defaulted in Q1 2026, followed by ~1.0 million in Q4 2025. The average borrower entering default is now nearly 40 years old, up from 36.4 before the 2020 pandemic. The US student loan crisis is intensifying.

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The Kobeissi Letter@KobeissiLetter

2026.05.17 23:36

Americans are defaulting on their student loan debt at a record pace: Delinquent federal student loan debt jumped +$12.2 billion in Q1 2026, to $171.4 billion, an all-time high. This has officially surpassed the $166.8 billion peak recorded in Q4 2019. At the same time, the proportion of seriously delinquent loans rose +0.7 percentage points, to 10.3%, the highest since Q1 2020. This comes as 2.6 million borrowers defaulted in Q1 2026, followed by ~1.0 million in Q4 2025. The average borrower entering default is now nearly 40 years old, up from 36.4 before the 2020 pandemic. The US student loan crisis is intensifying.