Editor’s Note:
Today we are running the second segment of the 15-part series on college-student-loan debt. (Thank you to onlinecolleges.net for putting this together.)
Nearly one in every six borrowers with a loan balance is in default.
Sadly, the number of students who are already or will have to deal with debt collection on their student loans isn’t insignificant. Over the past five years, as the economic downturn has heavily impacted college grads, the number of debtors who are at least 12 months behind in paying their student loans has risen more than a third. Currently, one in six federal student loans is in default, adding up to more than $76 billion in loans that aren’t being paid. Even those who don’t default often struggle: a 2011 study found that two out of five borrowers were delinquent at some time during the first five years they were repaying their loans.
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