When Benjamín Pérez González, 27, did the math, he realized he could not fulfill his dream of attending law school without taking on an unmanageable amount of student loan debt.

He enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico Law School in 2022. A year and a half later, with his degree barely underway, he was already $20,000 in debt, and his financial responsibilities were piling up. He had to pay rent, water, electricity, food, internet service, books and gas. Although he acknowledges there was nothing unusual about those expenses, he left law school because he had to choose between “the cost of living in Puerto Rico right now and my future,” he said.

In 2015, the UPR Law School charged $137 per credit, according to the university. When Pérez enrolled in 2022, the cost was $280 per credit. A year later, the UPR Governing Board approved an increase to $305, where it has remained.

“The Law School is one of the university’s most expensive schools, and costs have soared since the budget cuts imposed by the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico,” Pérez said. “When I enrolled, I realized I didn’t have enough money to pay for classes, housing and books. During that year and a half, I found myself paying for everything with student loans.”

He has been unable to make any payments on the debt because his salary does not leave room for that expense.

Like Pérez, about 104,000 former college students in Puerto Rico currently have student loans in default. Puerto Rico has the highest rate among U.S. jurisdictions — 31% — of borrowers whose student loans have gone unpaid for more than nine months, according to Federal Student Aid data through March 2026 analyzed by The Associated Press and Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI).

The CPI found that student loan defaults in Puerto Rico stem from several factors: borrowers’ inability to find work in the fields they studied, wages that do not reflect the cost of attending college, and the need to take out loans to cover basic expenses such as housing, health care and food, in addition to tuition.

Other factors include the rising cost of living, tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration — which disproportionately affect Puerto Rico — and expectations of federal student debt forgiveness that never materialized for some borrowers.

Student loan delinquency could place universities in Puerto Rico that processed the loans on probation and jeopardize their programs’ eligibility for federal financial aid, including Pell Grants, five university financial aid officials told the CPI.

Under the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Handbook, institutions with a cohort default rate, or CDR, of 30% or higher for three consecutive years lose eligibility to participate in the Pell Grant and federal student loan programs.

Based on the available data analyzed by the AP and the CPI, 14 university campuses in Puerto Rico currently have at least 30% of their loans 90 days or more past due. Those loans will enter default if borrowers go nine months without making a payment.

The federal pause on student loan payments during the COVID-19 pandemic helped keep universities’ default rates low. During that period, universities in Puerto Rico recorded default rates below 10%, and in some cases zero, according to the Education Department’s most recent report, covering 2022.

However, the AP and the CPI analysis indicate that several universities could move closer to the threshold that could eventually place them on probation because of the rise in default rates during the first year after payments resumed in October 2023.

“We’ll see the impact reflected in next year’s report,” said María Nolasco, financial aid director at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico.

According to Education Department data, the Catholic university has about 7,900 student loans that entered repayment between 2020 and 2025. Of those, 17% are at least 90 days past due.

“The end of the payment pause has definitely led to an increase in inquiries from students, both those currently enrolled and alumni concerned about understanding their repayment options,” Nolasco said. “Many have questions, but we have tools that allow us to identify students who could become delinquent and contact them to provide guidance.”

“In the coming years, we expect that number [of defaults] to begin reflecting the actual situation and for default rates to reach double digits,” said Carmelo Torres, vice president for financial affairs at Universidad Ana G. Méndez.

Torres was referring to default rates that remained at zero during the federal moratorium because payments were suspended but could now exceed 10%.

He said a sustained increase in those indicators could prompt the Education Department to scrutinize federally funded financial aid more closely.

Across its Gurabo, Carolina and Cupey campuses, Universidad Ana G. Méndez had a 24% rate of student loans at least 90 days past due as of March 2026, according to Federal Student Aid data.

“In the worst-case scenario, it could lead to the loss of eligibility for those funds and a determination by the Department of Education that the institution can no longer use federal financial aid,” Torres said.

Pérez is a teacher, and his salary of less than $40,000 a year is barely enough to cover his living expenses and the cost of the master’s degree in public administration he is now pursuing. He worries as interest continues to drive up the amount he owes.

“I have to be honest: If I have to pay the student loans, I don’t have the money to pay them right now,” he said.

He attributed his situation to the rising cost of living, which has reduced his ability to devote part of his salary to student loan payments.

Between 2020 and 2025, about 336,900 student loans processed by universities in Puerto Rico entered repayment, according to the Education Department.

The Northbridge University system leads the list with 48,900 student loans in repayment and 37% of those loans at least 90 days past due. The system was formerly National University College, or NUC, and absorbed Columbia Central University in 2025.

As of March 2026, NUC — now Northbridge University — had the highest rate of student loans at least 90 days past due, at 58%.

Northbridge University did not explain why it had such a large volume of loans in repayment. In a written statement, it defended its financial education and default-prevention programs.

The university also said it had implemented a default-prevention plan that includes financial education, individualized counseling, loan rehabilitation programs and job-placement support.

Despite its 90-day delinquency rate, the institution said the problem had not affected its official cohort default rate, which it said stood at 1% in 2026.

Student loans at least 90 days past due in Puerto Rico are concentrated primarily at for-profit institutions, where the rate reaches 36%. Private nonprofit universities follow at 19%, while public institutions have a rate of 11%.

Loans for School — and to ‘Survive’

Fernando Vargas, 35, began taking out student loans in 2011. Today, he owes $130,000, has an unfinished master’s degree in archaeology and can no longer borrow enough money to complete it.

He studied sociology and geology at UPR’s Mayagüez campus and later pursued graduate studies at the Center for Advanced Studies on Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. The loans covered tuition, books and housing, as well as some of his mother’s chemotherapy expenses.

“The first time I applied for a student loan, it was for $5,000, and it was to help my mother pay for chemotherapy,” he recalled. “The only way I could help her was by going into debt so I could stay alive and survive there [in Mayagüez], with all the expenses I had in addition to tuition.”

Defaulted loans in Puerto Rico account for 16% of the active student debt issued to students at local colleges and universities, according to the Education Department.

The federal agency classifies a loan as being in default after a borrower fails to make payments for nine months, or 270 days. As a result, borrowers’ credit records can be affected, and their debts may be sent to collection agencies.

The federal government can also garnish up to 15% of a borrower’s wages and withhold tax refunds, Social Security benefits and other federal payments to recover the debt. Borrowers may also face additional collection costs, according to official Federal Student Aid guidance.

Sociologist César Rey, a former Puerto Rico education secretary, said the fact that people stop paying student loans even though they know it will ruin their credit reflects the struggle “to survive” in Puerto Rico.

“People haven’t realized — the island hasn’t realized — that many people here are just surviving,” Rey said. “They pay some bills one month and others the next.”

Inflation also erodes income and savings, he said, “not because people don’t want to save, but because they have nothing left over to do it.”

“We take on more debt than we can possibly repay,” he added.

Karla Aguirre Astacio, executive vice president for finance and administration at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, said preventing students from falling into default requires supporting both students and alumni “in responsibly managing their financial obligations, identifying payment options and strengthening their long-term financial planning.”

According to Education Department data, 16% of Universidad del Sagrado Corazón student loans that entered repayment between 2020 and 2025 were at least 90 days past due.

Aguirre, however, said Sagrado had not seen an increase in loan repayment problems. She attributed that to the university’s efforts to advise students in advance about the end of the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, program and the transition to other repayment options.

“To date, we have not identified a significant impact on our university community attributable to these changes,” she said.

SAVE was a federal income-driven repayment program that reduced borrowers’ monthly student loan payments and, in some cases, allowed the remaining balance to be forgiven after a specified period of payments.

Antillean Adventist University, by contrast, said it had seen an increase in questions about student loan repayment.

“The end of the SAVE program and the resumption of student loan payments have created concern and uncertainty among many of our students and alumni,” said Xavier Ortiz, the institution’s financial assistance director.

Ortiz said the university strengthened its counseling efforts in response to the increased number of inquiries to help borrowers understand changes to repayment programs, identify the options available based on their financial circumstances and guide them through the appropriate processes with Federal Student Aid and their loan servicers.

Economic Disadvantages Worsen Student Loan Defaults in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico has the highest proportion of borrowers with delinquent student loans, although some states have larger numbers when measured by total volume.

Among U.S. jurisdictions, Puerto Rico’s 31% rate is followed by Mississippi at 28%, Louisiana at 27%, and Alabama, Nevada and Arizona, each at 25%.

Economist José Caraballo Cueto said volatility caused by tariffs imposed by the Trump administration and the costs associated with military conflicts initiated by the United States have disproportionate consequences for Puerto Rico compared with other U.S. jurisdictions.

“When these events occur, Puerto Rico absorbs them differently,” said Caraballo Cueto, a professor at UPR’s Río Piedras campus. “Many people respond to a recessionary economic cycle by cutting expenses, and student loan payments are one of the expenses they cut.”

Unlike the broader U.S. economy, he explained, Puerto Rico faces a recession marked by low economic output and an almost complete dependence on imported goods, a situation worsened by tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate stood at 5.8% in June, placing it second among U.S. jurisdictions with the highest unemployment rate. Only Washington, D.C., ranked higher, with a rate of 6%, according to U.S. Department of Labor data.

Caraballo Cueto also noted that wages are higher in the states, which could allow borrowers there “to manage their payments more effectively.”

Millions of student loan borrowers will have to make higher monthly payments after the Trump administration eliminated the SAVE program.

Beginning in July, new borrowers will be able to choose only between a standard repayment plan and an income-driven plan.

Previously, borrowers had additional options. Some plans calculated monthly payments according to borrowers’ ability to pay and allowed those with low enough incomes to make payments of $0. Other programs offered reduced payments and allowed the remaining balance to be forgiven after borrowers made payments for a specified number of years. Traditional options also included fixed-payment arrangements that remained unchanged regardless of whether the borrower’s income increased or decreased until the loan was paid off.

In addition to eliminating the SAVE plan, the Education Department will begin limiting the amount students can borrow in July. Students in professional programs such as law, medicine and theology will be able to borrow up to $50,000 annually and $200,000 in total. Students pursuing other graduate degrees, such as nursing and physical therapy, will be limited to $20,500 annually and $100,000 in total.

The Education Department has described the changes as a simplification of a system that was previously “fragmented and confusing.”

Pérez said he has begun receiving emails from the department notifying him that, after the summer, he will have to change his current repayment plan because of the elimination of SAVE.

“With the SAVE plan, I would be able to repay the loans more comfortably,” Pérez said. “But now, with the Trump administration trying to eliminate it, they are taking away every chance we have of being able to repay them.”

The Cost of College Rises, but the Economic Benefits Take Time

Rey attributed Puerto Rico’s high student loan delinquency rate to economic conditions that make it harder for residents to cover their immediate living expenses, as well as the time it takes to find a job that provides a return on an increasingly expensive college education.

“We all have people in our families who are doing something radically different from what they studied,” Rey said. “That puts an island that already has extremely high levels of poverty and inequality in an even more precarious position. While benefits and subsidies that help students attend college are being taken away, those students later end up in jobs that don’t pay enough for them to repay their loans.”

In March 2026, Caraballo Cueto and economist Eileen Segarra released the first representative study of social mobility in Puerto Rico. They confirmed that a college education remains the primary driver of economic progress between generations.

People with college degrees are up to 16 times more likely to experience social mobility than those who did not complete postsecondary education.

Even so, Caraballo Cueto recognizes that the cost of an education can effectively mortgage a borrower’s future income.

“On average, people are better off than their parents’ generation,” he said. “But that is an average. Some are, and some are not. And the loans they took out to study can even limit their ability to buy a home in the future.”

Between 2017 and 2026, the UPR saw an approximately 33% reduction in the funding it received from Puerto Rico’s central government. The cuts were imposed by the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico through a fiscal plan that also led to increases in the cost per credit across the public university system.

Of the 14,400 student loans that entered repayment between 2020 and 2025 across UPR’s 11 campuses, 10% were at least 90 days past due.

But rising costs are affecting more than public universities. Student loan borrowing has also increased at private institutions.

The pattern is changing: Although the trend was previously concentrated among graduate students, some universities are beginning to see increased borrowing among undergraduates.

Nolasco, the financial aid director at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, said the percentage of students with loans at her institution “is high,” increasingly so among undergraduates.

“We have programs such as architecture and the sciences that are among the most expensive,” Nolasco said. Those programs “carry additional fees, and Pell Grants are often not enough to cover tuition and fees. Students are forced to take out loans to finance what grant aid could not cover.”

Reliance on student loans also reflects the nature of certain specialized fields, including medicine, whose high costs leave students with few other financing alternatives.

That is the case at Ponce Health Sciences University, where between 90% and 93% of students use loans to pay for their education, according to Elisandra Rodríguez, vice president of student affairs.

“What that means is that our students are highly dependent on these funds to complete their education,” Rodríguez said.

She added that between 8% and 10% of the university’s students are the first in their families to attend college, while 58% come from households with limited financial resources. They rely on loans to complete programs in fields such as medicine, dental medicine, clinical psychology and public health.

On average, those programs require about five years of study, and students graduate with approximately $248,000 in accumulated debt.

Rodríguez said, however, that because those are specialized professions with strong demand for workers, graduates generally find jobs with incomes that allow them to repay their loans.

At the Catholic university, Nolasco said the institution monitors alumni with delinquent loans, recognizing that each default is not only a problem for the student but could also affect the university.

Most of the time, she said, the problem involves unemployment. But the university has also encountered alumni “who may have found a job but don’t earn enough to keep up with their loan payments and all their other financial responsibilities.”

Coralys Cruz Mejías, 34, is in that position. She has a 13-year-old daughter and $219,000 in student loan debt. In May 2025, she earned a doctorate in history from the Center for Advanced Studies on Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

Today, she works as a restaurant server.

Her income is so low that the federal student loan system classifies her as eligible for an income-driven repayment plan, which in practice means she does not have to make any payments for now. Interest, however, continues to accrue.

“I became pregnant while I was completing my bachelor’s degree,” said Cruz Mejías, who earned a bachelor’s degree in history from UPR’s Mayagüez campus in 2014. “I was studying, living away from home and facing many financial challenges. That was when I began taking out loans, during my undergraduate years. If I had had a support network or income from other sources at the time, I would not have had to turn to loans.”

Cruz Mejías hopes to find a job related to her education, or at least one that provides a higher income.

She recognizes, however, that earning more would mean she would have to begin repaying her loans through payments adjusted to her income. That calculation makes her consider how the debt could limit her ability to buy a home for herself and her daughter.

“It frightens me to think that I would like to buy a house someday and that this amount of debt could become an obstacle,” she said. “But I know that if I find a job where my income increases, part of that income will already be heavily committed to repaying that loan, and I will be left in an even more precarious financial position.”

Loan Forgiveness: A Promise That Never Materialized

The promise of student loan forgiveness during Joe Biden’s presidency may have raised expectations among borrowers and contributed to the increase in defaults, according to Rey and Caraballo Cueto.

Both agreed, however, that it is difficult to determine how many defaults can be attributed to those expectations.

“Under the Biden administration, student loan forgiveness was highly significant and one of the issues that generated the most excitement among students,” Rey said. “There is no question that when you create an expectation, people sometimes rely on it.”

Although the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Biden’s plan in 2023 to cancel up to $10,000 or $20,000 in debt per borrower, his administration approved debt relief through existing programs, including Public Service Loan Forgiveness and income-driven repayment plans.

The policy changed under President Trump, who signed an executive order in March 2025 restricting the loan forgiveness program. He directed the Education Department to review eligibility requirements and exclude certain nonprofit organizations.

Weeks later, when announcing the resumption of collections from borrowers in default, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said, “The law is clear: If you took out a loan, you must pay it back.”

Vargas, Pérez and Cruz Mejías acknowledged that the possibility of loan forgiveness had given them hope that they might be able to eliminate their respective debts. None of their loans has been forgiven.

Pérez said news about possible loan forgiveness programs influenced his decision to borrow money to pay for his education.

As a teacher, he also believed he might benefit from relief programs like those available to public employees.

Cruz Mejías recalled that when the debt cancellation plan was announced, people close to her advised her to seek guidance before beginning to repay her loans.

“Many people told me, ‘Look, Cora, wait, because they may cancel part of that debt, even if it is only $10,000,’” she said. “Then the process stopped, but I did expect something to happen. What has kept me calm is knowing that I have options.”

She was referring to the option of making payments adjusted to her income.

Vargas, by contrast, never fully believed that forgiveness would offer a way out.

“That promise to forgive the loans definitely influenced me,” he acknowledged. “But I always knew that, at some point, I was going to have to pay.”

The expectation that student loans may be forgiven does not mean borrowers can stop making payments without consequences, said Rodríguez, the vice president of student affairs at Ponce Health Sciences University.

She explained that federal debt forgiveness programs require participants to keep their loan payments current and comply with specific requirements throughout the eligibility period.

“One of the very clear requirements of those programs is that every year the borrower must fill out an income-based repayment document, which takes the person’s income into account, and must remain in repayment,” Rodríguez said.

She added that even programs requiring borrowers to complete years of public service before qualifying for forgiveness require them to remain active in the repayment process.

“If the loan becomes delinquent, they risk losing loan forgiveness,” Rodríguez warned. “That debt forgiveness program is tied to the borrower remaining in good standing.”

This story was made possible through a collaboration between the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo and Open Campus.

This translation was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and clarity.