The Trump administration says wage garnishment for defaulted federal student loans will begin in January, ending a pandemic-era pause.

The new agreement places tight restrictions on the department’s future ability to pass student loan forgiveness.

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.

About 5.5 million borrowers are currently in default. They haven't risked wage garnishment since the beginning of the pandemic, when policymakers paused the practice.

Students in professional programs would be able to borrow $50,000 a year and up to $200,000 in total. Parent borrowers would be limited to borrowing up to $20,000 a year per student, with a total limit of $65,000 in Parent PLUS loans.

Starting the week of Jan. 7, the Education Department will begin sending notices about paycheck deductions to about 1,000 of five million borrowers in default.

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Student loans are back in repayment, and starting in 2026, that also means that collection activity has resumed on student loan debt. Could your student loans cause you to see your tax refund garnished?