Delinquent or derogatory student loan

VantageScore code numbers

Code numbers can differ by bureau and score version. The wording of the statement is what to match.

What puts this reason on your score

VantageScore's explanation says your file shows a student loan with a payment at least 30 days late, or one a lender reported as derogatory. Student loans often appear as several separate lines on a report, one per loan, so one missed bill from a servicer can mark several lines at once.

The model reads it like a late on any other loan. Default, where the loan has gone to collection by the government or a guarantor, is the most serious version and usually comes with other codes about collections and recent delinquency.

What to check on your credit report

• Each student loan line, since one servicer can report several
• The status and the month of the first late on each line
• Loans you consolidated or rehabilitated, to confirm they show the updated status

What you can do about it

• Call the servicer about any past-due loan. Federal loans have income-driven plans, deferment and forbearance that can stop new lates.
• For a defaulted federal loan, ask about rehabilitation or consolidation.
• Dispute any loan reported late for a month it was in an approved deferment or forbearance.

The free drop off calculator can help with this step.

How soon a change can show

On-time payments reported after the late start to dilute it each month. The late entries can stay up to seven years from the original delinquency.

If you are applying for a mortgage

Student loan payments count in mortgage debt-to-income math, and loan programs have their own rules about loans in default. Get any defaulted federal loan back in good standing before you apply.

Guides that go deeper

• What student loan delinquency does to your credit in 2026Federal student loan late payments hit credit reports again in 2025. How the 90-day rule works, how big the score drops were, and how to get out.
• Getting out of student loan default: rehabilitation vs. consolidationHow federal student loan rehabilitation and consolidation work, which one removes the default from your credit report, and where collections stand in 2026.
• Hardship plans, forbearance, and how they show up on your creditThe CARES Act rule that kept forbearance off credit reports expired in 2023. How forbearance and card hardship plans report now, and what to ask first.
• What your credit score reason codes are telling youReason codes list what held your score back the most, in order. What the common ones mean, which you can act on, and which to leave alone.