According to an Associated Press analysis, more than 4.2 million people across the country defaulted on student loans between April 2025 and March 2026. The total number of borrowers in default has reached a record 9.5 million. The surge includes many who went off track in 2024, when loan payments started coming due again after a pandemic-era freeze. Hundreds of thousands more are months behind on payments, and another surge in defaults could be on the way. Borrowers enter default after missing payments for nine months. The consequences can upend people’s lives. It hurts credit ratings and can lead to the debt being sent to collections.

Harvard University has announced that it has filed suit to halt a federal freeze on more than $2.2 billion in grants after the institution said it would defy the Trump administration’s demands to limit activism on campus. It said the suit was filed Monday in Boston federal court. The Trump administration had recently called in a letter to Harvard for broad government and leadership reforms at the university, as well as changes to its admissions policies. It also demanded that the university audit views of diversity on campus, and stop recognizing some student clubs. Harvard President Alan Garber said the university would not bend to the government’s demands. Hours later, the government froze billions of dollars in federal funding.