July 21, 2026

America’s student debt time bomb just got worse: federal loan defaults have surged to a record, with more than 9 million borrowers now severely behind, up from 5.3 million last June, as the post-pandemic safety net runs out and the pain returns. Roughly one in five federal borrowers is in default, more than $230 billion is now caught in the mess, and the consequences are brutal — wrecked credit, frozen aid, and eventually wage or Social Security garnishment — while nearly 1 million more borrowers are teetering on the edge.

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