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Vladimir Vladimirov | E+ | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
More older student loan borrowers<\/a> are struggling to pay their monthly bill<\/a>, as the Trump administration ramps up its collection efforts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nearly 1 in 5 \u2014 or roughly 18% \u2014 of student loan borrowers who are 50 and older became \u201cseriously delinquent,\u201d or 90 days or more late on their payments, in the second quarter of 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York<\/a>. The rate for that age group was closer to 10% in 2019.<\/p>\n For comparison, closer to 8% of student loan borrowers between the ages of 18 and 29\u00a0became\u00a0seriously delinquent during that time frame, and around 11% of those aged 30 to 39\u00a0did.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing delinquent on student loan debt is difficult for people who are approaching their retirement years,\u201d said Lori Trawinski, director of finance and employment at AARP.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople end up having to make extremely difficult choices,\u201d Trawinski said.<\/p>\n Some of the repayment troubles may stem from older Americans borrowing more than they can afford for their children\u2019s college education, experts say. Other people run into financial difficulties after returning to school later in life and then not accessing the career opportunities they\u2019d hoped for.<\/p>\n More from Personal Finance:<\/strong> Whatever the reason, falling behind on your education debt may quickly have more financial consequences.<\/p>\n Earlier this summer, the Trump administration announced that it would soon resume collection activity against student loan borrowers who aren\u2019t making their payments. This comes after a nearly five-year period during which student loan holders were shielded from the consequences of missing their bills, a policy that began at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what older borrowers in the red need to know.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There are key differences between student loan delinquency and default<\/a>.<\/p>\n While becoming delinquent<\/a> for 90 days or more on your student loans can show up on your credit report and lower your score, the more severe consequences of federal collection activity don\u2019t usually start until you\u2019re more than 270 days late and eventually fall into default, said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, private lenders typically consider student borrowers in default after 120 days without a payment, he said.<\/p>\n Delinquent student loan borrowers have time to get current, said certified financial planner Douglas Boneparth, president of Bone Fide Wealth in New York.<\/p>\n \u201cFor those struggling, the first step is to explore all available federal repayment options, especially income-driven repayment plans, which can significantly lower monthly payments and prevent default,\u201d said Boneparth, who is also a member of the\u00a0CNBC Financial Advisor Council<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can try to find a repayment plan with monthly bills you can afford at Studentaid.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The so-called Income-Based Repayment plan<\/a> is one of what may be a dwindling number of manageable repayment options left to borrowers, after recent court actions and the passage of President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s tax and spending bill. That legislation phases out several other repayment plans.<\/p>\n There are tools\u00a0from the Education Department to help you determine<\/a>\u00a0how much your monthly bill would be under different plans.<\/p>\n Struggling borrowers can also see if they\u2019re eligible to pause their payments, such as through a forbearance<\/a> or economic hardship deferment<\/a> \u2014 though it\u2019s important to check if your debt will accrue interest during the reprieve.<\/p>\n \u201cRequesting a temporary forbearance can buy time, but ideally, borrowers should aim for an affordable, sustainable payment plan rather than stop-gap measures,\u201d Boneparth said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Older student loan borrowers who are behind on their payments received some good news earlier this summer: The Department of Education has paused<\/a> its plan to garnish defaulted borrowers\u2019 Social Security benefits<\/a>. Normally, Social Security recipients can see their checks reduced by up to 15% to pay back their defaulted student loan.<\/p>\n An Education Department spokesperson told CNBC in an email Tuesday that the department has not offset any Social Security benefits since restarting collections on May 5 and has paused future Social Security offsets.<\/p>\n Still, older borrowers should take steps to get their debt out of delinquency as quickly as possible and avoid becoming at risk for more punishing collection activity, said AARP\u2019s Trawinski.<\/p>\n While the Trump administration said in June that it was pausing Social Security offsets, \u201cwhat they did not do is issue a formal rule or regulation saying they won\u2019t do so in the future,\u201d Trawinski said. As a result, she said, \u201cthere\u2019s an expectation that they will at some point resume those garnishments.\u201d<\/p>\n For those older borrowers who are still working, the Education Department can also garnish up to 15% of your disposable, or after-tax, pay<\/a>, toward a defaulted student loan, Kantrowitz said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe anticipate wage garnishment to begin later this summer,\u201d a spokesperson for the Education Department told CNBC on Aug. 5.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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