--- title: Social Security Recipients Could See Checks Garnished if They're Behind on Student Loans description: As pandemic protections expire, lawmakers are raising concerns about how Social Security checks may be garnished to pay student loan debt. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 600 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2024-03-27T14:09:01.000Z' modified: '2024-03-27T14:09:01.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News word_count: 515 canonical: https://money.com/social-security-garnished-student-loans/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We may earn a fee if you click on the links below. Compensation does not determine ranking. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![A hand holding a miniature social security check](https://img.money.com/2024/03/News-Americans-Student-Loan-Payments-Social-Security.jpg) Older Americans who default on their federal student loan debt can risk losing up to 15% of their monthly Social Security benefits. And while this hasn't been an issue for several years, some lawmakers say they're concerned that if the practice resumes soon, it could lead to more older adults in poverty. Congressional Democrats [sent a letter](https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2024.03.19%20Letter%20to%20SSA,%20Treasury,%20and%20ED%20about%20Offsets.pdf) flagging the issue last week to administration officials. Falling behind on loan payments can lead to serious financial consequences for borrowers, they said, and the garnishment of Social Security benefits to pay off older adults' student loan debt was a growing issue before the pandemic. But for years, no benefits have been garnished thanks to the [student loan payment pause](https://money.com/student-loan-interest-sept-1/). That pause ended last fall, followed by a 12-month "on-ramp" period of temporary credit protection. After that runs out, however, older adults who default on student loans could be at risk of having their benefits garnished: a "devastating practice," per the lawmakers. “We are concerned that borrowers will face the extreme consequences associated with missed payments when protections expire in late 2024,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and more than 30 other legislators said in the letter. “At this point, many borrowers could once again face Social Security offsets due to defaulted student loans.” In general, borrowers who were in default before the payment pause got a ["fresh start"](https://money.com/defaulted-student-loan-borrowers-fresh-start/) on repayment on 2022. The Department of Education said this step, which affords them certain benefits, would remove the harmful effects of federal student loan delinquency and default and allow folks to access repayment plans. The on-ramp and the Fresh Start program both end in late September. It's unclear how long after that it would be until anyone's Social Security checks are garnished for federal student loan debt. Still, the lawmakers behind the letter are calling for the Biden administration to exempt [Social Security benefits](https://money.com/social-security-check-this-month/) from garnishment under what's called the Treasury Offset Program. “As a growing number of older Americans have federal student loan debt when they near or enter retirement age, we are concerned that these older borrowers are disproportionately subject to TOP collection,” the letter says. Many older adults rely on Social Security to pay their bills, and the garnishment of benefits can equate to the loss of hundreds of dollars in monthly income. The lawmakers note that 3.5 million people 60 and older have student loan debt. To be clear, that’s not the number of people who could be at risk of garnishment — only the subset of borrowers who default are potentially vulnerable. In 2015, about 114,000 borrowers had Social Security checks offset to pay back defaulted student loan debt, and about half of those people were receiving disability benefits (not retirement benefits), according to a [Government Accountability Office report](https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-17-45.pdf). But the risk remains, and the Democrats are pushing to stop it. They've requested a briefing on the issue by April 3. ## Make your student loan payments work for you! ### Refinancing your student loan can help reduce your monthly payments and even the total cost of your loan. Why wait? Click below to get started today! [See Details](https://money.com/pr/f4f1fdfe5368?ap_referrer=%2Fsocial-security-garnished-student-loans%2F) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/26621/medium_18b55bcd-82cd-4d73-b404-97711fd4a5e7.png) Refinance your Student Loan with SoFi today! [See Details](https://money.com/pr/odc45b263191?ap_referrer=%2Fsocial-security-garnished-student-loans%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-garnished-student-loans/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Retirement", "item": "https://money.com/retirement/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Social Security", "item": "https://money.com/social-security/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Social Security Recipients Could See Checks Garnished if They're Behind on Student Loans" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-garnished-student-loans/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/social-security-garnished-student-loans/", "name": "Social Security Recipients Could See Checks Garnished if They're Behind on Student Loans", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2024-03-27T14:09:01.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-garnished-student-loans/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-garnished-student-loans/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-03-27T14:09:01.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Social Security Recipients Could See Checks Garnished if They're Behind on Student Loans", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2024/03/News-Americans-Student-Loan-Payments-Social-Security.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Americans-Student-Loan-Payments-Social-Security" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/peter.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "email": "peter.grieve@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead News Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of Chicago, BA Political Science", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/pete_grieve", "https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138", "https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2024-03-27T14:09:01.000Z", "description": "As pandemic protections expire, lawmakers are raising concerns about how Social Security checks may be garnished to pay student loan debt.", "abstract": "As pandemic protections expire, lawmakers are raising concerns about how Social Security checks may be garnished to pay student loan debt.", "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-garnished-student-loans/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-03-27T14:09:01.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Julia Glum", "url": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/#author", "description": "Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. ", "image": "https://img.money.com/2021/10/a_julia-glum.jpg?quality=85&w=400&h=440&crop=1", "email": "julia.glum@money.com", "jobTitle": "Managing Editor", "alumniOf": "University of Florida", "subjectOf": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.newsweek.com", "name": "Newsweek" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.ibtimes.com/", "name": "International Business Times" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/home-office-tax-deduction-who-qualifies/", "name": "CBS News" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/coupon-queen-woman-tik-tok-share-tips-couponing-66302189", "name": "Good Morning America" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.wusa9.com/video/entertainment/television/programs/great-day-washington/tips-to-being-better-with-money-in-2021/65-a5b83e05-73ba-4d60-b9a8-1d47f9ac6018", "name": "WUSA9" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://pix11.com/news/coronavirus/rebound/making-ends-meet/millenials-taking-biggest-financial-hit-from-pandemic/", "name": "Pix 11" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/opinion/active-shooter-drill-schools.html", "name": "The New York Times" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://mashable.com/article/forrest-fenn-treasure-found", "name": "Mashable" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/13/theres-an-app-for-that-authorities-say-man-asked-siri-for-help-dumping-body/", "name": "The Washington Post" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/08/treasure-buried-by-forrest-fenn-finally-found-after-10-years.html", "name": "CNBC" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.politico.com/tipsheets/florida-playbook/2017/03/gillum-for-governors-rollout-stumble-florida-woman-gets-trump-shout-out-rubios-tampa-office-problems-218973", "name": "Politico" } ], "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/superjulia", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "wordCount": 515, "keywords": [ "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Retirement", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Student loans in the United States", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_loans_in_the_United_States" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Social Security (United States)", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_(United_States)" ] } ] } ] } ```