Americans Face Credit Hit as Student Debt Goes Delinquent Again

  • Late payments will be reported to credit bureaus from October
  • Biden’s debt relief plans helping some borrowers stay current

Graduates at a ceremony in Washington, DC.

Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
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Millions of Americans are falling behind on student loan payments a year after the pandemic freeze ended – and soon that will start hurting their credit scores.

In a report released last month, the Government Accountability Office estimated that about 10 million borrowers – more than one-quarter of the total – were behind on payments as of the end of January. About two-thirds of them were more than three months late, meaning they’d normally be classified as seriously delinquent.