Guide · by the Garnishment Calc Editorial Team · updated
Federal student loan wage garnishment
When a federal student loan defaults, the government can order your employer to withhold pay without suing you first. The order is capped at 15% of disposable pay, and state garnishment bans do not stop it.
The 15% cap
Two statutes set the same ceiling. For loans held by guaranty agencies, 20 U.S.C. § 1095a(a)(1) provides that “the amount deducted for any pay period may not exceed 15 percent of disposable pay, except that a greater percentage may be deducted with the written consent of the individual.” For debts owed to a federal agency, 31 U.S.C. § 3720D(b)(1) uses identical words. The Department of Education’s rules add a floor: the employer withholds the lesser of the ordered amount or “the amount by which a debtor’s disposable pay exceeds an amount equal to 30 times the minimum wage” (34 CFR 34.19(b)(2)).
Disposable pay is figured differently
For this kind of garnishment, disposable pay is what remains “after the deduction of health insurance premiums and any amounts required by law to be withheld” (34 CFR 34.3). That is one more deduction than ordinary creditor garnishment allows, so enter your health premium in the calculator’s student-loan mode.
Worked example
Paid every two weeks: $2,400.00 gross, $430.00 of taxes, $120.00 of health insurance — $1,850.00 of disposable pay. Fifteen percent is $277.50; the amount above the $435 two-week floor is $1,415.00. The order can take $277.50, about $7,215.00 over a year.
At the low end the floor decides: a worker with $277.00 of weekly disposable pay can lose at most $41.55, because only the amount above $217.50 is reachable.
When other orders are already in place
If an earlier garnishment or any family-support withholding is in effect, the education order is limited to “25 percent of the debtor’s disposable pay less the amount or amounts withheld under the garnishment order or orders with priority” (34 CFR 34.20(b)(2)). With $300.00 already going to support, the example worker’s student-loan withholding drops to $162.50. Several Education orders together still cannot exceed 15% (34 CFR 34.20(c)(2)).
It applies in every state
The Department’s garnishment rules apply “notwithstanding any provision of State law” (34 CFR 34.2(b)). Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina workers are covered, and state percentage limits do not lower the 15%. Private student loans are different: they are ordinary debts collected through a court judgment under state law — Washington, for example, protects 85% of disposable earnings on private student-loan judgments, and Utah caps education-loan judgments at 15%.
Notice before withholding
The agency must mail written notice at least 30 days before it starts proceedings, describing the debt and the intent to collect from pay (31 U.S.C. § 3720D(b)(2)). In January 2026 the Department of Education announced it was delaying involuntary collections, including administrative wage garnishment, while it changed repayment programs; whether your loan is being garnished now depends on notices sent to you, so check StudentAid.gov and your mail.