The 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.

This 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.

Why This Matters

Understanding who receives federal aid to support enrollment in higher education, and how they repay that aid when it is in the form of student loans, is crucial for informed policymaking.

What I Found

My analysis finds the following:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 61 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.
• 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), 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.
• 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. 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 PSLF and waivers) and IDR also provided forgiveness to 1.1 million and 1.4 million borrowers, respectively.

How I Did It

The data presented in this chartbook are an aggregation of data provided by the Office of Federal Study Aid. I harmonize these data across multiple years to present an overview of the federal aid portfolio over time. I provide context for these trends using research literature and supplementary data on enrollment and student characteristics.