Student loan debt is delaying life milestones for young Americans

Some two-thirds of Gen Z borrowers have pushed off one more life milestones because of their student loan debt, a new report out Tuesday found.

The big picture: Student loan debt in the U.S. tops $1 trillion and is central to Americans' affordability pains, now coupled with the possibility of wage garnishment for those in default after a pandemic-era pause ended last year.

Threat level: That debt burden has led more than half of borrowers to delay life events, according to research from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation, which released two new reports Tuesday on perceptions of higher education.

• Gen Z was the most likely to say they'd put off at least one life event because of their student loan debt, with each older generation gradually less likely to say the same.
• Nearly a third (32%) of Baby Boomers said they delayed milestones due to student loan debt.

Zoom in: Saving for retirement and going back to school were the most commonly delayed life events.

• But loans have also held people back from buying a home, purchasing a car and even getting married.
• Thirty-one percent of Zoomer borrowers say loans have held them back from buying a car, while 33% say it's blocked them from buying a home.
• Loans are posing yet another roadblock for new homebuyers, who are already spending a far higher share of their income on housing than existing homeowners, Axios' Emily Peck reports.

Zoom out: Broadly, Gallup and Lumina's report on the reality of higher education, also out Tuesday, shows that Americans still recognize the value of higher education — but they also believe cost remains a significant barrier to attaining a degree.

• One in ten of those currently enrolled in college or certificate programs think all people have access to quality, affordable higher education, compared to just 6% who never enrolled in such programs after high school.
• "Americans have not lost faith in higher education," that report reads. "But faith alone will not close the gap between aspiration and attainment."

Methodology: Results for the Gallup Alumni Survey were collected Nov. 10-Dec. 1 and include 1,266 associate degree graduates and 4,667 bachelor's degree graduates. The margin of sampling error is ±1.4 percentage points.

Results for the Lumina-Gallup study are based on web surveys conducted Oct. 2-31, 2025, with samples of 6,010 students who are currently enrolled in a postsecondary education program, 5,052 adults who were previously enrolled in a postsecondary education program but had not completed, and 3,000 adults who had never enrolled in a postsecondary education program.

Go deeper: Trump's student loan limits could rock the health care industry