30 Percent of Federal Student Loan Borrowers Were Behind on Payments in January: Report

Nearly 30 percent of federal student loan borrowers were behind on their payments in January of this year, a few months after they started getting bills again, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found in a new report. The report, released to the public on Aug. 14, was produced at the request of congressional Republicans to review the state of student loan repayment after more than three years of forbearance that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Jan. 31, approximately 13.3 million borrowers, representing 40 percent of all borrowers nationwide, were current on their loans and making payments, according to the report. In addition, about 4.5 million borrowers (14 percent) were current and were not required to pay any monthly payment as part of income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, which adjust the monthly bills based on the borrower’s income and family size and offer forgiveness for any remaining balance at the end of the repayment period. Monthly bills on IDR plans can be as low as zero dollars and still count toward eventual debt cancellation....