The U.S. Department of Education began sending notices of collection, which may include wage garnishment, to borrowers whose student loans have been unpaid for more than nine months and are in default status.
Employers can withhold up to 15% of disposable income, without a court order, from employees whose student loans are in default.
This policy may hit Indigenous communities especially hard. Higher education analysts say that about 40% of Native borrowers default on their federal loans, and many carry balances longer after graduation than other groups.
Nez Perce tribal member Sienna Reuben, who graduated from the University of Idaho in 2021, said wage garnishment adds another financial burden to Native families who are already stretched thin.
"I feel like student loans obviously come last because are you eating them? Are they feeding you? Are they housing you? Are they doing any of this stuff?" Reuben said.
Reuben also said that Indigenous alumni often have the additional responsibility of supporting family members.
"I think for Native communities and Native alumni, especially because, like I said, they're always supporting more than just themselves or their own intermediate family," she said. "They're supporting the others around them who are also struggling financially, especially on reservations."
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
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