More than 9 million federal student-loan borrowers are in default after pandemic forbearance ended last year, owing about $234 billion, and Stateline reports they may face wage garnishment and tax-refund seizures as soon as next year.

The account, by Tim Henderson and reprinted Thursday across States Newsroom sites, says involuntary collections have been paused repeatedly, most recently in January, according to a U.S. Department of Education announcement. Betsy Mayotte of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors told Stateline she expects collections to start in 2027. The Education Department did not answer a Stateline question. The Washington Sun reported in October that collection plans would likely be announced after the midterm elections.

A Stateline review of Education Department portfolio data for the second quarter of this year found default rates above 25 percent among borrowers in Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico, and about 15 percent even in the lowest-rate states, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Utah and Wisconsin. Federal Reserve Bank of New York credit-report data cited in the story show defaults restarted in late 2025 and early 2026, with 13 percent of loans in Louisiana and Mississippi entering default in those two quarters and at least 5 percent in every state.

Borrowers interviewed by Stateline described balances that grew after they could not keep up with payments. Attorney Timothy Varro said a roughly $120,000 principal had risen to $375,000 and that he cannot make a $2,000 minimum payment. Taylor Lewis, a Kennesaw State graduate, said a missed payment put a $29,000 loan into default and that she was told she had to pay the full balance to fix it.

Maine officials described counseling and a state tax credit for student-loan payments; Mila Tappan of the Finance Authority of Maine said the state had among the lowest new-default rates in that 2025-26 window. Preston Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute told Stateline the government communicated poorly that repayment had resumed after many pause extensions, and that some private vocational schools have very high late-payment rates while medical and health schools often have little default.

Whether the Education Department will restart garnishment and Treasury offsets, and on what timetable, is not stated in an on-record federal announcement in this reporting.