Direct or Stafford loans are federal student loans offered to eligible students at a lower interest rate than can be found with private loans. Stafford loans can be either subsidized or unsubsidized.
PLUS loans are federal student loans offered to parents of students or to graduate and professional students. The original acronym (which is now obsolete) stood for Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students.
Perkins loans are federal, need-based student loans that carry a fixed interest rate of five percent for the duration of the 10-year repayment period.
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Amount of student loan debt outstanding, by type U.S. 2025
Direct combined loans, also called Stafford loans, accounted for *** billion U.S. dollars of outstanding student loan debt in the United States in 2025. Stafford loans are a type of federal student loans offered to eligible university students at a lower interest rate than private loans. In the fourth quarter of 2024, outstanding student loan debt in the United States totaled over **** trillion U.S. dollars.
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Forbes. (February 2, 2026). Amount of outstanding student loan debt in the United States in 2025, by student loan type (in billion U.S. dollars) [Graph]. In ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ. Retrieved July 25, 2026, from /statistics/1078727/amount-student-loan-debt-outstanding-type-loan-us/
Forbes. "Amount of outstanding student loan debt in the United States in 2025, by student loan type (in billion U.S. dollars)." Chart. February 2, 2026. ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ. Accessed July 25, 2026. /statistics/1078727/amount-student-loan-debt-outstanding-type-loan-us/
Forbes. (2026). Amount of outstanding student loan debt in the United States in 2025, by student loan type (in billion U.S. dollars). ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ. ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Inc.. Accessed: July 25, 2026. /statistics/1078727/amount-student-loan-debt-outstanding-type-loan-us/
Forbes. "Amount of Outstanding Student Loan Debt in The United States in 2025, by Student Loan Type (in Billion U.S. Dollars)." ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ, ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Inc., 2 Feb 2026, /statistics/1078727/amount-student-loan-debt-outstanding-type-loan-us/
Forbes, Amount of outstanding student loan debt in the United States in 2025, by student loan type (in billion U.S. dollars) ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ, /statistics/1078727/amount-student-loan-debt-outstanding-type-loan-us/ (last visited July 25, 2026)
Amount of outstanding student loan debt in the United States in 2025, by student loan type (in billion U.S. dollars) [Graph], Forbes, February 2, 2026. [Online]. Available: /statistics/1078727/amount-student-loan-debt-outstanding-type-loan-us/
