Student Loans After Death: 42.4 Million Federal Borrowers by State, and What Families Owe

Disclaimer: General educational research only — not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules differ by state and by family. Talk to an estate planning attorney in your state before you act.

On March 31, 2026, about 42.4 million people in the 50 states and D.C. owed $1.63 trillion in federal student loans, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid office. That’s roughly 157.1 borrowers for every 1,000 adults, or about 1 in 6.

One of the most common questions families ask after a death is whether they now owe that debt. For federal student loans, the answer is no. The Department of Education cancels the loan when the borrower dies, and cancels a Parent PLUS loan when either the parent or the student dies. Private student loans are different. What happens depends on when the loan was signed, who cosigned it and the lender’s contract. That’s where an estate plan, and a little paperwork, can save a family money and stress.

Student loans are only one part of what an executor has to sort out. A clear will or trust makes the rest easier. See whether a trust or a will fits your situation.

Key findings

• 42.4 million federal borrowers with a U.S. state or D.C. address owed $1,627.4 billion, an average of $38,404 per borrower (March 31, 2026).
• Highest share of adults with federal loans (borrowers per 1,000 adults): District of Columbia (201.2), Mississippi (198.8), Louisiana (194.5), Georgia (193.6) and Ohio (189.0).
• Lowest: Hawaii (105.1), Alaska (114.0), Wyoming (118.8), Utah (119.7) and Washington (121.9).
• Most borrowers: Texas (3.95 million), California (3.92 million), Florida (2.75 million) and New York (2.46 million).
• Largest average balances: District of Columbia ($55,846), Maryland ($45,589), Georgia ($43,813) and Virginia ($41,916). Smallest: North Dakota ($30,543), South Dakota ($31,705) and Iowa ($31,885).
• Older borrowers are growing fast. 3.2 million borrowers 62 and older owed $143.7 billion, up from 1.7 million owing $51.9 billion in March 2017. Some of this is Parent PLUS debt taken on for a child, though FSA doesn’t break out loan type by age.
• Parent PLUS loans totaled $115 billion for 3.5 million students on June 30, 2026, not counting Parent PLUS loans that were later consolidated.
• When a borrower dies, these federal loans are canceled, and under a 2025 federal tax law the canceled amount isn’t taxable income for discharges after 2025.

Federal student loan borrowers by state

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, Federal Student Loan Portfolio by Borrower Location (Direct, FFEL and Perkins loans in open status, as of March 31, 2026); U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates, residents 18 and older on July 1, 2025. Sorted by borrowers per 1,000 adults. The last row sums the 50 states and D.C.

Borrowers by age, 2017 and 2026

Source: Federal Student Aid, Federal Student Loan Portfolio by Borrower Age, federal fiscal year 2017 Q2 and 2026 Q2. National only; the Department doesn’t publish age by state.

What happens to federal student loans when someone dies

Federal regulations (34 CFR 685.212) spell out the rules for Direct Loans, the main federal program:

• The borrower dies. The Department of Education discharges the loan once it gets a death certificate (an original, a certified copy, or an accurate copy, including one sent electronically) or confirms the death through an approved federal or state database. The estate doesn’t repay it, and no one else takes it over.
• A Parent PLUS borrower dies, or the student dies. A Parent PLUS loan is discharged if the parent who borrowed dies. It’s also discharged if the student the parent borrowed for dies.
• The PLUS loan was consolidated. If a parent rolled a PLUS loan into a Direct Consolidation Loan and the student later dies, the part of the consolidation loan that came from that PLUS loan is discharged.
• Payments made after the death are refunded. The Department returns payments it received after the date the discharge rules were met. For a death discharge, the money goes back to the borrower’s estate.
• Taxes. A 2025 federal law (Public Law 119-21, section 70119) made permanent the rule that a student loan discharged because of death or total and permanent disability isn’t taxable income, for discharges after Dec. 31, 2025. It covers private education loans as well as federal loans. The taxpayer’s Social Security number has to be on the tax return.

Older federal loan programs (FFEL and Perkins loans) have their own death-discharge rules. Contact the loan holder shown in the borrower’s StudentAid.gov account or on a recent statement.

Private student loans are different

Private student loans come from banks, credit unions and other lenders, and they aren’t covered by the federal discharge rules. Federal law added two protections for private loans signed on or after Nov. 20, 2018 (15 U.S.C. 1650(g)):

• If the student borrower dies, the lender must release any cosigner within a reasonable time after it’s notified of the death.
• If a cosigner dies, the lender can’t declare the student in default or demand full payment just because of the cosigner’s death.
• Lenders must let the student name someone with legal authority to act on the loan after the student’s death.

For private loans signed before that date, the contract controls. Some lenders forgive loans at death by policy, but they don’t have to. Otherwise, the balance is a debt of the estate, paid from what the person left before heirs inherit.

Who has to pay: the family or the estate?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says family members are generally not responsible for a relative’s debts after death. Debts are paid from the estate, and if the estate can’t pay, the debt usually goes unpaid. The exceptions:

• You cosigned the loan. A cosigner owes the debt, except where the 2018 release rule applies.
• You’re a joint account holder on the debt.
• You live in a community property state that requires a surviving spouse to use jointly held property to pay a spouse’s debts. The CFPB lists Alaska (if a special agreement was signed), Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
• Your state has a “necessaries” law that makes a spouse or parent responsible for certain costs, such as health care.

A debt collector can contact the executor about an estate’s debts. The CFPB notes it’s illegal for a collector to suggest you have to pay from your own money if you’re not legally responsible.

What executors and families should do

1. List every student loan. For federal loans, the borrower’s StudentAid.gov account and statements show the servicer. For private loans, check statements and the person’s credit report.
2. Send a death certificate to each federal servicer and ask for a death discharge. Don’t pay federal loans out of estate funds while you wait.
3. For a Parent PLUS loan after a student’s death, the parent sends the student’s death certificate to the servicer.
4. For private loans, find the signing date and the contract. Ask the lender in writing about its death-discharge policy, and whether a cosigner is released.
5. Watch the tax paperwork. Keep the discharge letter. If a lender sends a tax form for a death discharge after 2025, the exclusion generally applies.
6. Don’t let collectors rush you. Debts are paid in the order state law sets, and some estate assets, such as life insurance paid to a named beneficiary, usually pass outside the estate.

Planning ahead if you borrowed or cosigned

• Know which loans die with you. Federal loans and Parent PLUS loans are discharged at death. A private loan you cosigned before Nov. 20, 2018 may not be.
• Ask about cosigner release on older private loans, or consider refinancing, if you’re a parent or grandparent who cosigned.
• Cover what isn’t forgiven. Life insurance can pay off private loans so a cosigner or the estate isn’t left with them.
• Name a person to act on private loans if the lender offers that option.
• Write a will and name an executor who can find your accounts and handle lenders. Keep a list of your loans with your estate papers. See who will be your executor.

Why the state numbers differ

Borrowing rates reflect how many residents went to college, how they paid for it, the age of the population and where borrowers live now. The data uses the address servicers have on file, so a borrower who moved counts in the new state. A Parent PLUS borrower is counted where the parent lives, not the student. About 2.0 million borrowers owing $52.2 billion had no reported location. Most of these are FFEL or Perkins loans held by commercial lenders, which aren’t required to report a borrower’s address, so every state’s count is somewhat low. Federal Student Aid rounds borrowers to the nearest hundred and balances to the nearest $100 million, so small states’ averages are approximate.

Related: turning 18 by state · who will be your executor · older Americans’ financial complaints by state · settling an estate

Methodology

We used Federal Student Aid’s Federal Student Loan Portfolio reports, downloaded from the FSA Data Center on Oct. 21, 2026: Portfolio by Borrower Location (as of March 31, 2026), Portfolio by Borrower Age (federal fiscal years 2017 Q2 and 2026 Q2) and Portfolio by Loan Type (2026 Q3, June 30, 2026, for Parent PLUS). The location and age reports include Direct, FFEL and Perkins loans in open status. Interest on school-held Perkins loans isn’t included in balances. Average balance divides each state’s balance by its borrowers. Borrowers per 1,000 adults divides borrowers by the state’s residents 18 and older on July 1, 2025, from the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 population estimates (file sc-est2025-alldata6). The two dates are about nine months apart. The “50 states + D.C.” row is the sum of the state rows. Puerto Rico, other territories, foreign addresses and unreported locations are excluded from the table.

Discharge rules come from the Code of Federal Regulations, federal statutes and CFPB guidance listed under Sources.

What this doesn’t measure. The data doesn’t count private student loans, how many borrowers die each year, or how many death discharges are granted. Borrower counts are FSA’s location report counts, which can differ slightly from FSA’s unduplicated totals because of rounding and timing.

Frequently asked questions

Are student loans forgiven when you die?

Federal student loans are. The Department of Education discharges them when it gets proof of death. Private student loans depend on the contract and the signing date.

Do parents have to pay a Parent PLUS loan if their child dies?

No. A Parent PLUS loan is discharged if the student dies, and also if the parent who borrowed dies.

Is a spouse responsible for a dead spouse’s student loans?

Not for federal loans, which are discharged. For private loans, a spouse generally isn’t responsible unless they cosigned, or state community property or necessaries laws apply.

Is a death discharge taxable?

For discharges after Dec. 31, 2025, no. Federal law excludes student loans discharged because of death or total and permanent disability from income, as long as the Social Security number is on the return.

How many people have federal student loans?

About 42.4 million borrowers in the 50 states and D.C. as of March 31, 2026, owing $1,627.4 billion.

Is this legal or tax advice?

No. Talk with an estate planning attorney or tax professional in your state.

Sources

Public-domain government sources only. Fetched 2026-10-21.

Data

• U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid Data Center, Federal Student Loan Portfolio (by Borrower Location, by Borrower Age, by Loan Type, Portfolio Summary): https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/portfolio
• U.S. Census Bureau, State Population by Characteristics: 2020-2025 (sc-est2025-alldata6): https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/state/asrh/

Laws and agency guidance

• 34 CFR 685.212, Discharge of a loan obligation (eCFR): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/subtitle-B/chapter-VI/part-685/subpart-B/section-685.212
• 15 U.S.C. 1650(g), protections for private education loan borrowers and cosigners (added by Public Law 115-174, section 601): https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title15-section1650&num=0&edition=prelim
• Public Law 119-21, section 70119 (26 U.S.C. 108(f)(5), discharges on account of death or disability): https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Does a person’s debt go away when they die?: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/does-a-persons-debt-go-away-when-they-die-en-1463/
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Am I responsible for my spouse’s debts after they die?: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/am-i-responsible-for-my-spouses-debts-after-they-die-en-1467/

Related research: student loans are only one kind of debt older families carry. See older Americans’ debt by year: in 2025, 52.2% of families headed by someone 75 or older had debt, up from 21.0% in 1989, and 5.3% of families 65 to 74 still had an education loan (Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances).

Related data

• Empty Homes Held Up by Probate and Family Decisions, by State
• Mobile and Manufactured Homes Owned by Americans 65+, by State
• Multigenerational Households: Who Inherits the Shared Home? Data by State
• Paid-Off Homes: Free-and-Clear Ownership Among Americans 65+, by State

More in Probate, wills and family situations.

Cite this data

You’re welcome to reuse the table with a link back to this page. The underlying government data is public.

Published October 21, 2026 by Family Estate Guide. Data vintage: Federal Student Aid portfolio reports through June 30, 2026. Editorial standards.