Student Loan Delinquencies Surge to Alarming Levels--Credit Score Report [View all]

Source: Newsweek

Published Dec 07, 2025 at 09:26 AM EST


Financial strains are pushing more Americans into delinquency, according to a report from TransUnion, with student loan borrowers in particularly dire straits following the end of the federal loan forgiveness program.

In a recent analysis, the consumer credit reporting agency found that student loan delinquencies among rental applicants doubled in early 2025, with the share of those 90 or more days past due climbing from 15 percent in January to 32 percent in May. “Consumers across all tiers experienced notable score declines,” TransUnion wrote in its report, noting that more than 2.2 million borrowers saw their scores fall by over 100 points in a matter of months.

Why It Matters

As TransUnion writes, the end of pandemic-era student loan forgiveness has forced millions to make payments for the first time in years, creating a crisis for many of the country’s borrowers that is now “reshaping the rental market and creating new challenges for property managers who rely on credit-based scoring to assess risk.”

And beyond student loans, the country is seeing a surge in delinquencies and defaults across almost every type of credit—a spike experts consider highly irregular and a warning signal for lenders and the broader economy.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/student-loan-delinquencies-surge-credit-score-report-11169626