Years of debt accumulation has meant that almost 4 million Californians owe about $146 billion in federal student loans. Just a small share of student loan debt is private.

Paradoxically, borrowers with the least federal student debt are historically more likely to default at higher rates, typically because those with smaller balances are less likely to have graduated.

In California, relatively few borrowers accumulated more than $100,000 in federal debt. But, because they borrowed so much, their large loan balances represent nearly half of California’s debt total.

President Joe Biden’s debt-forgiveness plan in February cleared $1.2 billion in federal debt for borrowers who’ve been repaying for a decade and borrowed $12,000 or less. Students with higher balances could see their debt cleared in as little as 10 years under the Biden program, which offers more generous provisions than existing debt forgiveness plans. But a lawsuit brought by Republican-led states is challenging that program, calling it a “bailout for the wealthy.” For some who work in government or non-profit jobs, federal repayment plans can forgive debt after a decade. And borrowers in default on federal student loans have until September to opt into a program to gain more debt relief.