The Trump administration is set to resume garnishing the wages of some student loan borrowers who are in default beginning in early 2026, and a leading advocacy group for student loan borrowers is raising concerns.

Wage garnishment notices are expected to go out to about 1,000 borrowers in default beginning the week of Jan. 7, according to The Associated Press, with the number of notices expected to increase on a monthly basis after that.

The Education Department said in a statement to The AP that it would begin involuntary collection “only after student and parent borrowers have been provided sufficient notice and opportunity to repay their loans.”

It was not immediately clear how much of their wages those in default could see garnished.

“At a time when families across the country are struggling with stagnant wages and an affordability crisis, this Administration’s decision to garnish wages from defaulted student loan borrowers is cruel, unnecessary, and irresponsible,” said Persis Yu, deputy executive director and managing counsel of the student borrower advocacy group Protect Borrowers. “As millions of borrowers sit on the precipice of default, this Administration is using its self-inflicted limited resources to seize borrowers’ wages instead of defending borrowers’ right to affordable payments.”  

Federal student loan borrowers are considered in default after missing payments for at least 270 days. Borrowers in default must be given at least 30 days’ notice before their wages can be garnished.

Student loan repayments were paused, with no interest accruing, by the first Trump administration in March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. After several extensions under the Biden administration, payments were required to resume in Oct. 2023 after Congress blocked further extensions.

In May of this year, the Education Department signaled it would move to resume wage garnishment, among other forms of involuntary collection, for those in default.

More than 5 million borrowers were in default when the Education Department said in May it would begin involuntary collections through the Treasury Department’s offset program, which uses measures such as withholding tax refunds, federal salaries and Social Security benefits. The department predicted 4 million more could be in default in the months that followed, which would mean nearly 25% of all student loan borrowers would be in default.

Former President Joe Biden attempted to forgive student loan debt for tens of millions of people during his term, but the effort was repeatedly rejected by courts, including a 2023 ruling by the Supreme Court. The Biden administration was able to wipe out student loan debt for more than 5 million borrowers through other forgiveness programs. 

In May’s announcement, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said, “Going forward, the Department of Education, in conjunction with the Department of Treasury, will shepherd the student loan program responsibly and according to the law, which means helping borrowers return to repayment — both for the sake of their own financial health and our nation’s economic outlook,” she said in a statement Monday. 

“There will not be any mass loan forgiveness,” the announcement said.

The “big, beautiful bill” that President Trump signed into law on July 4 also overhauled the federal student loan system, phasing out several repayment plans, including the SAVE, PAYE, IBR and ICR, capping the amount individuals can borrow for higher education, and eliminating deferment provisions for borrowers facing economic hardship.