More than 90,000 Nevadans in default on student loans, federal data shows

An estimated 93,000 people in the state are in default on about $2 billion in loans, according to March data from the U.S. Department of Education. Close to 368,000 borrowers in Nevada have taken out a total of $13.2 billion in student loans.

“This is a problem that’s beyond any individual borrower,” Shelbie Swartz, the executive director of the Institute for a Progressive Nevada, said of the number of people in default.  “When it’s one in four Nevadans, this is such a systemic issue.” 

Those who attended public universities and colleges who struggled to pay back loans – and are more than 90 days behind – making up 16% of nonpayment rates nationwide, according to a National Student Loan Data System analysis from May. 

More than 30% of people attending for-profit proprietary institutions such as trade schools for cosmetology, massage, and art are behind on payments nationally. 

Federal data on nonrepayment rates in Nevada showed 28% of student borrowers at College of Southern Nevada were behind on payments. UNLV and UNR had a 12% and 10% rate of nonrepayment respectively. 

Other public college nonrepayment rates include:

• Truckee Meadows Community College at 23%;
• Great Basin College at 21%;
• Western Nevada College at 21%;
• Nevada State University at 13%

Of the 15 proprietary schools listed in Nevada with borrowers, the Milan Institute of Cosmetology had the largest nonrepayment rate with 46% of its 4,200 students behind. 

A pandemic-era student loan pause ended in 2024 leaving those saddled with debt to resume monthly payment amid rising economic costs. 

Swartz attended Northwestern for her undergraduate degree in journalism and went on to get her masters from Johns Hopkins University. Like many borrowers, she took out loans because she thought it would lead to opportunities in her career.

“I didn’t borrow that to be forever in debt,” she said. “I also borrowed that money before a global pandemic, a housing crisis, and Trump’s tariffs making life more expensive. It was a different world than the one we are currently living in.” 

A 2022 analysis by Brookings Mountain West at UNLV found the average debt for Nevada borrowers at the time was $34,000. The national average was $39,000. 

About 18% of borrowers in the state owed less than $5,000 and another 19% owed between $20,000 and $40,000, according to the Brookings report.

Amid the rising number of people with unmanageable student loan debt, there have been yearslong calls for Congress to take action to provide relief. 

In 2022, President Joe Biden announced plans to revamp income-driven repayment plans and relieve up to $20,000 in federal student debt for Pell Grant borrowers. People earning less than $125,000 a year, or $250,000 as a household, were eligible for up to $10,000.

The proposals faced pushback from Republicans, and several states sued to block Biden’s student debt repayment plans. 

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in June 2023 that Biden didn’t have the legal authority to offer student debt relief.   

President Donald Trump’s massive spending and tax cut bill passed in July 2025, which included substantial cuts to social services including Medicaid funding, health subsidies, and food benefits, also made sweeping changes to federal student loans.

In addition to new limits on borrowing, there are fewer repayment options. 

“Nevada has the highest unemployment anywhere in the country,” Swartz said. “You have rent that is too high. You can’t afford to buy a house. And then you’re told your student loan payment is going up. They are coming due again post-pandemic when most people still have not recovered from the impact of the pandemic. It’s a recipe for disaster.”

Provisions on student loan borrowing and repayment will leave “American families with one big student loan bill,” said Amy Czulada, senior advisor for outreach and engagement with Protect Borrowers, a debt relief and reform advocacy organization. 

“When President Trump signed the OBBBA, he cut millions in resources that families rely on to pay for college and repay their student loan debt, all to cover tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations,” Czulada said in a statement this month. “The consequences of this law are hitting families in their pocketbooks when they can least afford it.”