The Department of Education on May 5 will resume collections for the first time in five years of federal student loans in default, impacting some 5 million borrowers.
Since March 2020, the department has not collected on default loans. When Congress mandated student and parent borrowers to resume student loan payments in October 2023, the previous administration granted borrowers another year to be protected from the negative effects of missed payments. Former President Joe Biden also did not lift the collections freeze.
