Student loan borrowers in default may see wages garnished in 2026

WASHINGTON– The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it would begin garnishing the wages of defaulting student loan borrowers early next year.

The department said it would send notices to about 1,000 borrowers the week of Jan. 7, with more notices sent on an increasing scale each month.

Millions of borrowers are considered delinquent, meaning they have been 270 days late on their payments. The department must give borrowers 30 days’ notice before their wages can be garnished.

The ministry said it would begin collection activities, “only after student and parent borrowers have been given sufficient notice and an opportunity to repay their loans.”

In May, the Trump administration ended the pandemic-era pause on student loan payments, beginning to collect defaulted debts through withholding tax refunds and other federal payments to borrowers.

The move ended a period of leniency for student loan borrowers. Payments resumed in October 2023, but the Biden administration extended a one-year grace period. Since March 2020, no federal student loans had been referred for collection, including those in default, until changes made by the Trump administration earlier this year.

The Biden administration repeatedly attempted to provide broad student loan forgiveness, but those efforts were ultimately halted by the courts.

Persis Yu, deputy executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, criticized the decision to begin wage garnishment and said the department had not adequately helped borrowers find affordable payment options.

“At a time when families across the country are struggling with stagnant wages and an affordability crisis, this administration’s decision to garnish the wages of defaulting student loan borrowers is cruel, unnecessary and irresponsible,” Yu said in a statement. “As millions of borrowers teeter on the brink of default, this administration is using its self-inflicted limited resources to garnish borrowers’ wages instead of defending borrowers’ rights to affordable payments.”

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