The Federal Bank of New York just released a new report that claims one in five—or 18%—of student loan borrowers over the age of 50 have “serious delinquency” when it comes to their bills, often resulting in them not paying them for at least 90 days and negatively affecting their credit scores. This shift comes after President Donald Trump and his administration announced several changes for people with student loans, a lot of which were outlined in his One Big Beautiful Bill. We have all the must-know information on the report, including how to get up to date on both your bills and the news, below!
What the New York Fed found about borrowers over 50
In the Federal Bank of New York’s second quarter report, they claim that 18% of student loan borrowers over the age of 50 are delinquent when it comes to their student loans, an increase from the 10% it was at back in 2019.
Also revealed in the Federal Bank of New York’s report was the fact that that the country currently has $1.64 trillion in student loan debt, and “missed federal student loan payments that were not previously reported to credit bureaus between 2020Q2 [quarter two of 2020] and 2024Q4 [quarter four of 2024] are now appearing in credit reports. Consequently, student loan delinquency rates continued to rise. In the second quarter of 2025, 10.2% of aggregate student debt was reported as 90+ days delinquent.”
So how exactly did this number rise so much? A lot of it could be because of the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful bill, which eliminated things like subsidized loans for undergraduates and made it so borrowers’ payments were determined by their total adjusted gross income, both of which made people all over the country nervous and confused about what it meant for them and their bills.
It’s also believed that the increase could be caused by parents taking out student loans for their children and not doing enough research on what they can afford to borrow. Another possibility is that people over the age of 50 are taking out loans to go back to school and not understanding how much money they will be expected to pay back and when they will be expected to do so.
“Being delinquent on student loan debt is difficult for people who are approaching their retirement years,” Lori Trawinski, the director of finance and employment at AARP, told CNBC. “People end up having to make extremely difficult choices.”
Why older borrowers may struggle more with student debt
If you are part of the 18% of adults 50+ who are confused when it comes to student loans, there are several things you can do to educate yourself, all of which will ensure that you pay them off correctly and in a way that will help your overall credit score.
The first is to stay updated, which can be hard sometimes with all the changes happening in America. A good place to start with this is either tuning into your local news station, reading the news online or simply going to your bank and asking a trusted financial expert to explain what’s going on in the world of money.
Then, once you do that, you should look over your current student plan and figure out what you owe and when you owe it. Doing this will help you map out when your bills are due so you can prepare both your bank account and yourself. If doing this intimidates you, you can always meet with a financial expert and then can help you create a payback plan that works for you.
And finally, once the bill is paid, you should look at your credit report and make sure that it’s been reflected there, either in an increase or just an announcement that the total money owed has gone down.
