If you have federal student loans in default, this is a heads-up: the U.S. Department of Education resumed wage garnishment on January 7, 2026. This is the first time collections have been enforced in roughly five years, following the pandemic-era payment pause.
Who is affected
Borrowers who have not made payments for more than 270 days are considered in default. Approximately 5.3 million borrowers are currently in default, and around 2 million are expected to receive garnishment notices in the initial wave.
How much can be taken
The government can garnish up to 15% of your disposable wages without a court order. This continues until the loan is paid in full or you exit default. Your employer cannot fire you over a government wage garnishment.
What you can do
If you have received a garnishment notice, you generally have 30 days to act. Your options include:
- Loan rehabilitation: make nine voluntary payments over ten months to exit default and remove the default from your credit report. This can be started even after garnishment begins.
- Loan consolidation: combine your defaulted loans into a new Direct Consolidation Loan. This must be done before garnishment starts.
- Request a hearing: you can request a written review or hearing to challenge the garnishment if you believe it is incorrect or causes hardship.
- Pay the full balance: if you are able to, paying the balance in full stops the process immediately.
You can contact the Default Resolution Group at 1-800-621-3115 or visit myeddebt.ed.gov for more information.
If you are not in default
This does not apply to you right now, but it is worth knowing the threshold. If you stop making payments and go 270 days without one, your loans move into default and collections can begin. If you are struggling to make payments, switching to an income-driven repayment plan -- where your payment is based on what you earn -- is almost always a better path than going silent.
Use the Student Loan tool to compare repayment plans and see what your payments would look like.