06/16/2025

Credit Scores Decline for Millions as U.S. Student Loan Collections Restart

The Trump administration resumed debt collections paused in recent years

Millions of Americans are seeing their credit scores suffer now that the U.S. government has resumed referring missed student loan payments for debt collection.

After 90 days of non-payment, student loan servicers report delinquent, or past-due, accounts to major credit bureaus, which use the information to recalculate the borrower’s score. Falling behind on loan payments therefore can affect an individual’s credit rating as severely as filing for personal bankruptcy.

A lower credit score makes it harder or more expensive to obtain car loans, mortgages, credit cards, auto insurance and other financial services at a time when inflation, high interest rates and layoffs have strained the resources of some consumers.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Associated Press.