On May 5, the U.S. Department of Education announced it would soon resume major collection efforts on defaulted student loans, including wage garnishment, tax refund interception, and Social Security payment offsets — all without a court order. The move has sparked anxiety among borrowers across the country, including in Kern County, where several residents have shared they’re already living on the edge financially and fear these aggressive measures could push them deeper into hardship.

For Taylor Thomas, a local resident and mother of three, the possibility of wage garnishment is terrifying.

“As it stands, we are living check to check,” Thomas said. “Every single month at one point or another, my account gets overdrawn. It’s a constant battle just trying to stay at $0.”

Between rising bills, grocery costs, and over $500 a month in car insurance for two vehicles, she said her family is already “drowning.” The added pressure of student loan collections would be crushing.

“If my wages begin to get garnished, it would be extremely challenging to get groceries for our family of five,” stated Thomas. “We’d likely be pushing our cars to the limit and running on low gas constantly. It’s hard now to keep my account in the positive. If my wages get garnished on top of that, then I’d be in a losing battle.”

Thomas said her family has already cut spending to the bare essentials: power, groceries, baby products, gas, and insurance.

“There would be no way for us to adjust our budget,” she said. “We’d simply have to decide which bills wouldn’t get paid. I think our cell phones would be the first to go. Then our WiFi. Sadly, after that, likely our car insurance.”

She and her fiancé have already made sacrifices to protect their children from the worst of their financial situation. “Our top priority is keeping a roof over our heads, our power on, and our kids fed — even if that means my fiancé and I are only eating one meal a day.”

Thomas is not alone. Thousands of borrowers like her face confusion over how to navigate a rapidly shifting student loan system, made worse by inconsistent communication and a lack of clear guidance.

“My loans were already submitted as defaulted, and my credit took a huge hit,” shared Brooke Charles, another local resident. “When I try to contact the company, the phone lines are too busy. I get a message that they are ending the call because the volume of calls is too high right now.”

Charles said her expected monthly payment of $666 is also unmanageable. “That’s way too high, and I’m unable to make that payment monthly without putting myself in a bind,” she said.

Julia Gonzalez, another Kern County resident, is also feeling the strain of rising costs and looming student loan payments.

“I haven’t paid anything in years, but I am worried that when payments resume, I won’t be able to pay everything,” Gonzalez explained. “My mortgage just went up $200, and it’s just me and my kids.”

Before the pandemic, she had been enrolled in a payment plan where her payment was zero. But now she says she doesn’t know what is going to happen.

Alexiander Lundrigan, Higher Education Policy Manager with Young Invincibles, says the current landscape is a mess — and one that could lead to widespread financial harm if left unchecked.

“There’s a lot of confusion with the way the law is currently written,” Lundrigan explained, referring to federal proposals that would eliminate existing income-driven repayment (IDR) plans and consolidate them into a single plan requiring 15% of a borrower’s discretionary income. “The plans we used to recommend — like Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Income-Based Repayment (IBR), or Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) — are being phased out. And while borrowers currently enrolled in those plans might be grandfathered in, the language is unclear and leaves many people in limbo.”

Under the current system, most IDR plans cap payments at 10–15% of discretionary income and offer loan forgiveness after 20 to 25 years. The SAVE plan, introduced by the Biden administration, offered even more generous terms, such as cutting payments to 5% for undergraduate borrowers and preventing unpaid interest from ballooning balances. But under the proposed changes, all plans would be collapsed into a single IDR plan with a flat 15% payment rate, regardless of loan type or income level, potentially tripling monthly payments for many low-income borrowers.

Lundrigan emphasized that some borrowers are now stuck in a bureaucratic backlog, attempting to leave SAVE before it’s dismantled, yet not enrolled in a new option. “They’ve taken down the IDR application system temporarily,” he said. “So what happens to the people waiting in the meantime? Are they protected? Are they penalized?”

In the meantime, borrowers struggling to pay should know their options — even if those options aren’t great.

Lundrigan stated that if a borrower can’t afford to make payments, they can apply for a forbearance through the FAFSA website, which typically offers temporary relief for up to 12 months. For those already in default, there are two main options for recovery: loan rehabilitation, which requires nine consecutive on-time payments and can remove the default status from their record, or loan consolidation, a faster process that combines loans into one but leaves the default noted on their credit history.

Lundrigan also warned that the government is not afraid to get aggressive. “The reality is, we’re likely facing a collection and credit crisis. Borrowers could see 15% of their wages garnished and lose their tax refunds. For many, that’s devastating — it’s pushing people deeper into poverty for simply trying to get an education.”

Emma Bittner, Media Manager with Young Invincibles, added that while the system is broken, borrowers can still take steps to protect themselves.

“Reach out to your servicer. Ask questions. Keep screenshots and paper records of every payment, application, or status change. If you’re transitioning between plans, that proof can help you qualify for a processing forbearance,” said Bittner.

Additionally, Bittner urged borrowers to speak up, “We have a very broken system that’s working against people who critically need relief. Sharing your story, contacting your elected officials, and demanding accountability — those things matter. Borrowers shouldn’t have to fight this hard just to survive.”