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The analysis highlights declining undergraduate FAFSA applications, continued reductions in undergraduate loan borrowers alongside rising Pell grant receipt, concentration of Pell recipients in public institutions, and the growing role of income-driven repayment in repayment balances after resumption. It also details accelerated forgiveness and discharge after 2022. Data are harmonized from the US Department of Education Office of Federal Student Aid.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/federal-student-aid-portfolio-chartbook-january-2026/588025/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/federal-student-aid-portfolio-chartbook-january-2026/588025.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Bintang","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":52},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How has the number of FAFSA applicants changed since the Great Recession?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Undergraduate FAFSA applications declined overall, while graduate applications did not show the same decline. The number of FAFSA applicants increased during the Great Recession and generally fell afterward, with a small rebound in 2023–24.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What trends affected undergraduate borrowers and Pell grant recipients?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The number of undergraduate loan borrowers continued to fall since the Great Recession, even with enrollment rebound after the pandemic. In contrast, undergraduate Pell grant recipients increased starting in 2022–23, reflecting enrollment recovery and policy changes expanding eligibility.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What happened to repayment plan enrollment and forgiveness after the pause?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"After borrowers resumed repayment, about 56% of federal loan balances in repayment were on an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, with growth supported by the introduction of the SAVE plan. Student loan forgiveness and discharge accelerated substantially after 2022, with millions of borrowers receiving relief by January 2025 through mechanisms such as group discharges and borrower defense, as well as PSLF and IDR.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},588025,1792166418,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":52,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},962085564381,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Federal Student Aid Portfolio Chartbook  \nNine Charts of Government Data on Federal Grants and Loans Kristin Blagg  \nJanuary 2026  \nThe federal government receives more than 17 million applications for federal financial aid each year, disburses grant and loan aid to more than 10 million individuals annually, and oversees a student loan portfolio of more than 42 million borrowers.  \nThis chartbook presents nine charts that illustrate how federal student aid has changed, focusing on changes in aid since the Great Recession, as well as changes in repayment and forgiveness during and after the pause on student loan repayments. These data highlight five trends:  \n◼ Undergraduate applications for federal aid have declined, but graduate applications have not. The number of Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) applicants increased during the Great Recession and has generally declined since, following student enrollment trends, with a small rebound in 2023–24, likely attributable to enrollment recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. FAFSA applications for associate’s and certificate programs saw the largest decrease since 2011.  \n◼ The number of undergraduate loan borrowers has continued to fall since the Great Recession. Even with rebounding enrollment after the pandemic, the number of undergraduate students taking out federal student loans annually has generally declined since 2011–12. In contrast, the number of undergraduate students receiving a Pell grant (a need-based grant of up to $7,395 per year) increased starting in 2022–23, reflecting both an enrollment rebound and policy changes that increased eligibility for the Pell program.  \n◼ Public institutions serve most Pell recipients. Reflecting their share of total student enrollment, public four-and two-year institutions serve the most Pell recipients and have historically always served between  \n61 and 70 percent of all Pell students. Private for-profit institutions served about 23 percent of Pell recipients in 2009–10 but now enroll only about 13 percent of this group.  \n◼ After borrowers resumed repayment, about 56 percent of federal loan balances in repayment were on an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan. The resumption of student loan repayment in late 2023, combined with the introduction of a more generous income-based repayment plan (Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE), boosted enrollment in IDR plans. Although only about 39 percent of borrowers in repayment are enrolled in an IDR plan, these borrowers tend to carry much higher balances, meaning that more than half of the loan portfolio in repayment is being paid through an IDR plan.  \n◼ Student loan forgiveness and discharge accelerated substantially after 2022. The Biden administration prioritized student loan forgiveness, providing 5.3 million borrowers at least some relief by January 2025.1 Accelerated by group discharges, borrower defense to repayment provided relief for the largest number of borrowers (about 1.8 million). Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF, including Temporary Expanded PSLFand waivers) and IDR also provided forgiveness to 1.1 million and 1.4 million borrowers, respectively.  \nWith the second Trump administration, and with upcoming changes to student lending as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), these data reflect a singular chapter in the history of federal student financial aid—encompassing the student loan pandemic pause and expanded forgiveness under the Biden administration—that may now be coming to a close.  \nA NOTE ON DATA  \nAll data are sourced from the US Department of Education’s published reports from the Office of Federal Student Aid. These reports have been harmonized to present data over time on student aid applications, volume, repayment, and discharge.  \nThis brief focuses only on federal financial aid data, rather than on how financial aid interacts with higher education enrollment or with other outcomes such as earnings data. I use evidence from ot","cbCaiaT5DqHhA8I7","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiaT5DqHhA8I7","pdf",255550,15,"English","# FAFSA applicants over time\n## Change in undergraduate and graduate applications\n## FAFSA filing vs receiving federal aid\n# Loan borrowers and grants\n## Undergraduate loan borrowers decline\n## Pell grant recipients rise and distribution by institution type\n# Repayment and income-driven plans\n## Enrollment in income-driven repayment and portfolio share\n# Student loan forgiveness and discharge\n## Acceleration after 2022 and key programs","[{\"question\":\"How has the number of FAFSA applicants changed since the Great Recession?\",\"answer\":\"Undergraduate FAFSA applications declined overall, while graduate applications did not show the same decline. The number of FAFSA applicants increased during the Great Recession and generally fell afterward, with a small rebound in 2023–24.\"},{\"question\":\"What trends affected undergraduate borrowers and Pell grant recipients?\",\"answer\":\"The number of undergraduate loan borrowers continued to fall since the Great Recession, even with enrollment rebound after the pandemic. In contrast, undergraduate Pell grant recipients increased starting in 2022–23, reflecting enrollment recovery and policy changes expanding eligibility.\"},{\"question\":\"What happened to repayment plan enrollment and forgiveness after the pause?\",\"answer\":\"After borrowers resumed repayment, about 56% of federal loan balances in repayment were on an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, with growth supported by the introduction of the SAVE plan. Student loan forgiveness and discharge accelerated substantially after 2022, with millions of borrowers receiving relief by January 2025 through mechanisms such as group discharges and borrower defense, as well as PSLF and IDR.\"}]","Federal Student Aid Portfolio Chartbook - January 2026 | PDF",1792064061,38]