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  1. What We Do
  2. Federal Student Loans
  3. Default & Collections
  4. Administrative Wage Garnishment

Administrative Wage Garnishment


  • Press Releases
    Jan 16, 2026

    Amidst Growing Affordability Crisis, Trump Administration Abandons Plans to Subject Millions of Borrowers and Their Families to Draconian Forced Collections

    Announcement comes days after advocates call on Administration to halt wage garnishment.

    More


  • Press Releases
    Jan 13, 2026

    Advocates Release PSA for Student Loan Borrowers: The Government May Seize Your Tax Refund

    Borrowers advised to “Dial Before You File” to know if their loans are in default and their refund is at risk.

    More


  • Investigations
    Jan 7, 2026

    2025 Student Loan Default Crisis: State by State

    Protect Borrowers’ analysis shows that by the end of 2025, student loan borrowers had defaulted on debts totaling more than $92 billion—bringing the total number of borrowers whose debts meet the legal definition of a student loan default to nearly 9 million people nationwide.

    More


  • Press Releases
    Jan 7, 2026

    New Analysis Finds That a Student Loan Borrower Defaulted Every Nine Seconds in 2025, as Trump Restarts Wage Garnishment

    Protect Borrowers’ new analysis estimates a borrower has defaulted on a student loan every 9 seconds since January 2025. Additionally, a coalition letter urges the Administration to halt plans to resume garnishing defaulted borrowers’ wages.

    More


  • News Clips
    Apr 25, 2025

    Can the Government garnish my wages over defaulted student loans?

    Mike Pierce is the Executive Director for the Student Borrower Protection Center, a nonprofit that fights for people with student debt. InvestigateTV spoke with Pierce about concerns borrowers have related to wage garnishment.

    More


  • Press Releases
    Apr 21, 2025

    Advocates Slam Trump Administration for Throwing Millions of Americans With Student Debt Into the Jaws of Government Collections Machine

    The Trump Admin announced plans to begin subjecting millions of Americans in default to mandatory collections, including wage garnishment, tax refund and Social Security benefit offsets.

    More


  • Blogs
    Mar 23, 2023

    New Data Shows Guaranty Agencies Illegally Took and Failed to Refund Tens of Millions of Dollars From Borrowers After Already Getting Caught Breaking the Law

    SBPC has uncovered new evidence that GAs stole millions of dollars from borrowers and illicitly refused tens of millions of dollars of refunds after already getting caught breaking the law.

    More


  • Press Releases
    Dec 15, 2022

    Uncovered Documents Expose the Government’s Stunning Failure to Control its Student Loan Collection Machine During the COVID-19 Pandemic

    A new report from the SBPC reveals that ED may be powerless to implement protections for defaulted borrowers as required by law and that it struggled to end illegal garnishments during COVID-19 for far longer and in much more profound ways than previously known.

    More


  • Reports
    Dec 15, 2022

    Collections Catastrophe: New Evidence Exposes Fundamental Failures of the Government’s Student Loan Collection Machine

    This report reveals that ED may be powerless to implement protections for defaulted borrowers as required by law, and that it struggled to end illegal garnishments during COVID for far longer and in much more profound ways than previously known.

    More


  • Investigations
    Nov 4, 2022

    Collections Catastrophe: Appendices

    Spurred by litigation, in late 2021 ED released roughly 2,000 pages of reports, communications, and other records concerning its management of the AWG program during COVID.

    More


  • Blogs
    Sep 2, 2021

    New Evidence Reveals Guaranty Agencies Violated ED Orders to Stop Preying on Student Loan Borrowers During COVID

    New evidence uncovered through a FOIA request indicates that Guaranty Agencies did not comply with Department of Education guidance directing them to stop garnishing wages from defaulted borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    More


  • Blogs
    Mar 22, 2021

    Lawsuit Against DeVos Ends; Fight for Defaulted Borrowers Continues

    On April 30, 2020, Student Defense and NCLC, with the support of the SBPC, filed a class action lawsuit against the Department of Education and then-Secretary Betsy DeVos, demanding an immediate halt to ED’s garnishment of student borrowers’ wages, which the CARES Act had prohibited since March 27, 2020.

    More


  • Blogs
    May 1, 2020

    Help Us Stop Betsy DeVos’ Illegal Wage Garnishments

    If you have had your wages garnished to repay a federal student loan, we want to hear from you. We know that borrowers across the country have had their wages illegally seized by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. That’s why we have partnered with Student Defense and National Consumer Law Center to bring a new class action lawsuit against the Trump Administration.

    More


  • Lawsuits
    May 1, 2020

    Administrative Wage Garnishment Complaint Against Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos

    The lawsuit seeks to end unlawful wage garnishment by Secretary DeVos and the Trump Administration for hundreds of thousands of borrowers and to return the money illegally seized from these borrowers’ paychecks.

    More


  • Press Releases
    May 1, 2020

    U.S. Department of Education and Secretary DeVos Sued for Illegally Seizing Student Borrowers’ Paychecks During Coronavirus Emergency

    Student Defense and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), with the support of the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC), filed a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary Betsy DeVos, demanding an immediate halt to the Department’s illegal garnishment of student borrowers’ wages.

    More


  • Blogs
    Apr 14, 2020

    Borrower Voices: The Impact of Wage Garnishment During the Coronavirus Pandemic

    As Americans face unprecedented economic and financial pressure, having wages seized can mean the difference between having enough money to pay rent or to put food on the table.

    More


  • Blogs
    Mar 30, 2020

    Are You Having Problems with Government Wage Garnishment on Your Student Loans During COVID-19?

    On March 25, 2020, the Trump administration announced that it would end wage garnishment for student loan borrowers, going back to March 13 and extending for at least 60 days. However, this process is not simple.

    More

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