Since the pandemic, federal student loan borrowers have been mostly protected from the harshest consequences of defaulting. That's about to change.

In all, some 42 million borrowers owe more than $1.6 trillion in student debt, according to the DOE. If the borrowers currently in late-stage delinquency were to default on their own loans, it would bring the share of borrowers in default to nearly 25%.

After a nearly three-year freeze on mandatory payments, the U.S. Department of Education is phasing out its lenient approach to missed payments.