Upcoming Collections Could Make Student Loan Borrowers’ Financial Situation Even Worse

The millions of student loan borrowers struggling to make payments could soon face a predicament as collection efforts resume.

The Department of Education said 5 million borrowers have defaulted on their federal student loans, and expects 4 million more to default in the next few months. Starting May 5, the department plans to resume the collection of defaulted loans, eventually leading to involuntary wage garnishment for some borrowers.

Over the last five years, pandemic-era pauses, court cases related to the Saving on a Valuable Education repayment plan, and a change of administrations have caused tumult and confusion for many student loan borrowers. Now, looming collections have some borrowers distressed.

“I’m not against paying my loans back, I took them out and went to school. But without affordable repayment options or programs, it just seems really suffocating for a large amount of borrowers,” one user with student loans posted on Reddit.

Collections Will Likely Make it Harder for Borrowers to Pay Other Debts

Borrowers who have not paid for at least 270 days could see up to 15% of their income, tax refund, or federal benefits withheld and sent to their loan holder starting this summer. And that could have repercussions on other parts of student loan borrowers’ financial lives.

American consumers are already struggling to pay their debt. In a recent study by digital finance company Achieve, one in three consumers said their debt is unmanageable, and 36% said they can’t pay all their bills on time.

“Many borrowers may have taken on more debt than they can manage during the moratorium, and student debt may now sit lower in the payment hierarchy,” wrote Shandor Whitcher, a Moody’s Analytics economist, in a blog post.

Paying off additional bills can be harder for student loan borrowers who have other debt and have part of their income cut from wage garnishments. According to Achieve, 37% of student loan borrowers who reported missing a payment on any type of debt said they did so because they ran out of money.

Credit Hits Can Make New Debt More Expensive

The average FICO score fell in February, mainly driven by about 2.7 million delinquent student loan borrowers whose missed payments were reported to credit bureaus for the first time in five years.

Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York estimates that more than 9 million borrowers hold delinquent student loan debt and could see their scores fall as much as 171 points.

Borrowers with lower credit scores typically have more debt and are more likely to say their debt is unmanageable than those with higher scores, according to Achieve. In addition, missed payments stay on a borrower’s report for seven years, leading to reduced credit limits, increased interest rates on new loans, and less access to credit.

“While [the average credit score fell] only two points right now, it’s going to continue to get worse,” said Jack Wallace, director of government and lender relations at Yrefy, a private student loan company.

Defaulted borrowers can consolidate their loans or enter a rehabilitation program to avoid the adverse effects of wage garnishments and collections. Delinquent borrowers have a few more options before they are put into default status, including signing up for lower payments under an income-driven repayment plan or applying for forbearance.