We knew it was bad, but now it looks even worse than we thought. Twenty-seven percent of student loan borrowers are a month behind on their loan payments. Keep in mind, this debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy; these borrowers are stuck with it no matter what.
…if we adjust the delinquency rate to consider that only a fraction of the borrowers have payments due, this level of delinquency is very concerning: A delinquency rate of 15 percent for all student loan borrowers implies a delinquency rate of 27.3 percent for borrowers with loans in repayment. This level of delinquency is much higher than for any other type of debt (credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, and so on).
This will not end well.
If you have student loans, pay them off as quickly as possible. If you don’t have a student loan, don’t get one. If you have student loan debt already and are considering taking on more, reconsider.