When you default on your student loans, your debt is transferred out of the normal repayment servicing system. It enters “into what’s almost like the ‘bizarro land’ of the repayment system,” says Denten, “where it can be difficult to understand how to actually get yourself back on track and back into the status of making payments sustainably.”

When a car accident nearly killed Davina Rush’s son three years ago, forcing her to leave her job and become his full-time caregiver, she stopped paying her $49,000 in student loan debt. Now, the 42-year-old single mother from Florida is one of the millions of student loan borrowers in default who are at risk of having their benefits and wages garnished.

If you are in default or with a loan 270 days or more overdue, you should expect to receive an email from the Federal Student Aid office in a couple of weeks.