Student Loan Balances: How Do You Compare to Ages 25 to 34 Average

Borrowers between 25 and 34 make up the second largest group of federal student loan holders in the country, and as of September 2025 they owe about $480 billion combined, an average of $33,566 each, according to Department of Education data. That average sits below the $39,546 owed by the typical borrower across all ages, but the repayment path for this age group has been anything but typical.

A Repayment Timeline Scrambled by the Pandemic

Nearly 14.3 million borrowers fall into the 25 to 34 bracket, roughly a third of the 42.8 million people carrying federal student debt. Many of them were still in their late teens or twenties when the COVID payment pause began, which means some have gone almost six years without making a single payment. Others finished school during or right after the pandemic and have never made a payment at all. The pause lifted in 2023, and by 2024 missed payments started showing up on credit reports and pushing some borrowers toward default.

The SAVE Plan's Unfinished Story

Layered on top of that timeline is the saga of the Saving on a Valuable Education plan, the Biden administration's income driven repayment option that launched in 2023. Legal challenges to the plan's structure have kept it tangled up in court, and borrowers enrolled in it have been sitting in an administrative forbearance since July 2024. In December 2025, the Department of Education said the SAVE plan is being phased out entirely. What isn't clear yet is exactly when current enrollees will need to exit or what their payments will look like once they do.

Comparing What Comes Next

For borrowers trying to plan ahead, Federal Student Aid's Loan Simulator lets people estimate monthly payments under different plans before committing to one. A new option, the Repayment Assistance Plan, opens for enrollment on July 1, 2026, and for some borrowers its payments could land lower than or similar to existing income driven plans.

Falling Behind and What It Costs

The confusion has a real cost. Millions of borrowers across all ages have fallen behind on payments, and while younger borrowers default less often than older ones, about 10% of the loan balances held by borrowers 18 to 29 are seriously delinquent, per New York Federal Reserve figures. Default, which kicks in after 270 days without a payment, triggers wage garnishment eventually, but there's a window before that happens. Borrowers who are struggling can look into switching to a cheaper repayment plan or ask their loan servicer about forbearance or deferment rather than letting the account slide further.

What Happens When SAVE Borrowers Have to Move

The biggest unresolved question is timing. Nobody enrolled in SAVE yet knows exactly when they'll be required to switch plans or what their new bill will look like. Until the Department of Education spells out a transition schedule, borrowers in this age group are left estimating their options with tools like the Loan Simulator and waiting for RAP's 2026 launch.