Americans' student loan balance tops $1.6 trillion; nearly half of borrowers haven't resumed payments

Americans currently owe over $1.77 trillion in student loan debt, with more than 92% of this being federal student loan debt. Nearly half of the borrowers haven't resumed payments after the pandemic-related pause expired.

About 19 million student loan borrowers, or nearly half, haven't resumed repayments on their loans. Data from the Department of Education shows that almost 20 million borrowers have resumed making payments on their student loans, while roughly 19 million haven't done so, leaving their accounts in a state of delinquency, default or otherwise paused through deferment or forbearance.