The Biden administration stopped doing this temporarily during the pandemic. A federal student loan goes into default after 270 days have passed without payment. More than 5 million student loan borrowers are currently in default, according to the Department of Education.

The Education Department announced it is restarting the collection of payments on defaulted student loans. Here’s what to know about the decision and how borrowers can protect themselves.

“Borrowers will now be expected to repay their loans, and those who don’t will face involuntary collections,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday. “The government can and will collect federal student loan debt by withholding money from borrowers, tax refunds, federal pensions and even their wages.”