NAACP Condemns Trump Administration Plans to Begin Wage Garnishment for Defaulted Student Loan Borrowers

WASHINGTON, D.C.  - Yesterday, the NAACP and other advocacy organizations sent a  letter to Department of Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, urging the department to reconsider implementing wage garnishment for defaulted student loan borrowers. This letter comes after a years-long fight by the NAACP, advocating for student debt cancellation. The Association recognizes that far too many borrowers are forced to choose between repaying their student loans and meeting basic needs. Wage garnishment eliminates that choice entirely. Borrowers will then be left to struggle to afford life necessities such as groceries, rent, transportation, childcare, and healthcare, which are all essential to survival.

"By garnishing wages for defaulted student loan borrowers, the Trump Administration will only deepen financial hardship for working families and disproportionately harm Black borrowers," said Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO. "Millions are already struggling with rising costs and economic uncertainty, and stripping wages will only push families further into financial crisis. Instead of punishing Americans for seeking education and their own advancement, the Department of Education must pursue options that expand access to affordable repayment options, protect vulnerable borrowers, and ensure an equitable path forward."

Due to longstanding racial inequities, Black students are more likely to rely on student loans to access higher education and more likely to face repayment challenges once they enter the workforce. With Black unemployment at 8.3 percent, wage garnishment is deeply destabilizing - creating a domino effect that threatens economic mobility and family stability. Black communities will bear the greatest weight of this harm.

Excerpts from the letter include:

• Administrative wage garnishment will deepen racial and economic injustice, disproportionately harming Black borrowers and seniors already overrepresented among those in default.

• Resuming wage garnishment amid systemic failures is fundamentally unjust, as nearly one million borrowers remain stuck in Income-Driven Repayment backlogs while Department of Education staffing cuts limit access to help and due process.

• The Department's wage-garnishment system is proven to be unreliable and harmful, with a documented history of illegal garnishments continuing during the COVID-19 pause.

"Education should be a pathway to opportunity, not a punishment. Garnishing wages from student loan borrowers is not only unjust, it's tone-deaf, and will ultimately cause disproportionate harm to Black communities." said Derrick Lewis, NAACP National Director of Youth and College. "At a time when economic security is already out of reach for too many Black families, policies that extract wages from unemployed and underemployed borrowers only widen the racial wealth gap and undermine our collective future."

The NAACP urges an immediate end to wage garnishment for defaulted student loan borrowers and calls for meaningful, lasting solutions that make higher education accessible without sentencing Black borrowers to a lifetime of debt.

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About NAACP

The NAACP advocates, agitates, and litigates for the civil rights due to Black America. Our legacy is built on the foundation of grassroots activism by the biggest civil rights pioneers of the 20th century and is sustained by 21st century activists. From classrooms and courtrooms to city halls and Congress, our network of members across the country works to secure the social and political power that will end race-based discrimination. That work is rooted in racial equity, civic engagement, and supportive policies and institutions for all marginalized people. We are committed to a world without racism where Black people enjoy equitable opportunities in thriving communities.

NOTE: The Legal Defense Fund - also referred to as the NAACP-LDF - was founded in 1940 as a part of the NAACP, but now operates as a completely separate entity.