These States Have the Highest Rates of Student Loan Delinquency

Student loan borrowers in southern states are far more likely to be behind on their payments.

The Department of Education said that roughly two out of every 10 student loan borrowers are more than 90 days past due. According to data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank, that concentration is higher in southern states.

In seven states, all in the South, more than 30% of student loan borrowers have at least one loan that is ninety days or more past due, the New York Fed data showed. Mississippi had the highest concentration of borrowers with late payments, at 44.6%, Alabama had 34.1%, and West Virginia rounded out the top three with 34% behind on payments.

Borrowers behind on payments saw their credit scores dip for the first time in February, after an on-ramp that protected them from hits to their credit expired. Those who saw their credit score drop face consequences that affect their entire financial life, such as increased interest rates on new loans of any type and less access to credit in general.

“Anecdotally speaking, there are a lot of borrowers who found out about payment presumptions or payment reporting of delinquencies via an alert from their bank that their credit score dropped,” said New York Fed officials on a press call with reporters. “Many of them may have had the money to make these payments and just didn’t know that they needed to be making them.”

If they don’t start making those payments, they also could have their wages garnished by the government beginning this summer.