Administrative Wage Garnishments Restarting
On May 5, 2025, the federal government restarted collections on federal student loans that are in default. That means if you haven’t made a payment on your federal student loans in more than 270 days, you could soon face serious consequences, including losing your tax refunds, a portion of your wages, and even some of your Social Security benefits. The government has said that it will begin garnishing wages to collect on defaulted student loans at some point in the summer of 2025. Unlike other types of debt collection, the government can take these steps without going to court. There is no statute of limitations on collecting federal student loan debts. This means you could face collection actions for debts that are years old.
Take steps now to make sure your loans aren’t in default! If you are in default, act quickly to get out of default and avoid collections
If you have defaulted on your federal student loans, your loan holder can tell your employer to withhold up to 15% of your wages to collect your student loan debt without taking you to court. This is called an administrative wage garnishment. The garnishment continues until your defaulted loan is paid in full or you are removed from default. Your employer cannot fire you for having your wages garnished by the government to pay back your student loan debt. You should get a letter before your wages are taken, giving you information about requesting a hearing or review to try to stop the wage garnishment.
Make sure your contact information is updated with the Department of Education and your loan servicer. Many people who don’t get notice that their tax refunds have been taken have moved and failed to let the government know their new address. Don’t miss out on important updates. Call your loan servicer or log in to your studentaid.gov account to update your contact information.
Can I stop the government from taking my wages?
If you get a letter from the federal government letting you know that your wages will be garnished to pay back your student loan debt, don’t ignore it. You can take steps to try to stop the wage garnishment by requesting a review.
For instructions on how to submit a written request for review, contact the Department of Education Default Resolution Group. You can call the Default Resolution Group at 1-800-621-3115. You can find more information and set up an account with the Default Resolution Group to manage your requests online at myeddebt.ed.gov.
The process for challenging wage garnishments may be changing. There may be changes coming to the way the government collects student loan debts. Because of these changes, the steps you have to take to try to stop the government from taking your wages may change as well. We will update this page as we get more information, but you can check for further updates on studentaid.gov.
What will the government consider when reviewing my request to stop the wage garnishment?
The government will usually consider whether or not you have any defenses to paying back your student loan debt.
Some of the main defenses include:
- you already repaid the loan,
- it is not your loan or there is some other reason why you do not owe the money,
- you have already entered into a repayment agreement with the loan holder and are making payments as required,
- you have filed for bankruptcy and the case is still open or the loan was discharged in bankruptcy,
- your school lied to you about the program or the loans you were taking out,
- the school failed to pay you a refund after you withdrew from classes,
- you are totally and permanently disabled,
- the loan is not enforceable, for example because of forgery or other reason, or
- you are eligible for a closed school discharge, or
- you have been unemployed for at least 12 months due to an involuntary separation from employment.
Will the government stop a wage garnishment because of my financial hardship?
In some cases, the government will stop a wage garnishment due to your financial hardship, but you usually have to be facing a significant and urgent hardship, such as an eviction, foreclosure, or utility shut-off, in order to stop it.
For more information on the collection of federal student loan debt, visit the Federal Student Aid website page on collections.
