2.6 million student loan borrowers fell into default in early 2026: New York Fed

Vladimir Vladimirov | E+ | Getty Images Millions of student loan borrowers have recently defaulted on their loans, according to new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Roughly 1 million borrowers fell into default during the fourth quarter of 2025, and another 2.6 million borrowers did so in the first quarter of 2026, the New York Fed reported in a blog post on Tuesday. …