Around 9.5 million people - 1 in 5 federal student loan borrowers - are in default, meaning they are more than nine months behind on their payments.
The Department of Education restarts collections of loans in default on Monday, putting millions of borrowers at risk of having their benefits and wages garnished.
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A defaulted loan is a loan that a borrower hasn't made payments on for 270 days, according to the office of federal student aid. When the loan officially enters default, it becomes eligible for mandatory collections.
The rule ends the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports and prevents lenders from using certain medical information in loan decisions.