Last month, the federal government resumed collections on defaulted student loans, affecting millions of borrowers. Among them, an estimated 452,000 people aged 62 and older had loans in default, according to a January report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

However, the Department of Education has not resumed garnishing Social Security benefits since restarting post-pandemic collections. It has also paused “any future Social Security offsets,” according to department spokesperson Ellen Keast.

“The Trump Administration is committed to protecting Social Security recipients who oftentimes rely on a fixed income,” Keast said.

Still, advocates argue the administration should go further in providing relief for the roughly 5.3 million borrowers in default.

“Simply pausing this collection tactic is woefully insufficient,” said Persis Yu, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center. “Any continued effort to restart the government’s debt collection machine is cruel, unnecessary and will further fan the flames of economic chaos for working families across this country.”

A Growing Burden on Older Americans

Student loan debt among older Americans has surged dramatically — driven in part by rising tuition costs that have forced more individuals to borrow later in life. Adults aged 60 and older now owe an estimated $125 billion in student loans, according to the National Consumer Law Center — a sixfold increase compared to two decades ago.

As a result, the number of Social Security recipients whose benefits were garnished to repay student loans skyrocketed from roughly 6,200 in 2001 to 192,300 by 2019, CFPB data shows.