Nearly 2 million student-loan borrowers are in danger of having their wages garnished this summer by the federal government, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Citing data from the TransUnion credit-reporting bureau, the outlet reported on Tuesday that about 6 million federal student-loan borrowers are 90 days or more past due on their payments after the end of a pandemic-era forbearance. Of those, about one-third, or nearly 2 million borrowers, could default on their loans in July and have a portion of their paychecks automatically withheld.

That's a sharp uptick from the credit agency's earlier May projection of 1.2 million in default by next month.

Borrowers enter default status when they are 270 days past their payment's due date.

Joshua Turnbull, head of consumer lending at TransUnion, told the Journal that some borrowers may be having a hard time getting in touch with their student-loan servicers, while others might be experiencing financial strain.

The Department of Education restarted collections activities in May — something it hasn't done since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials notified borrowers that their tax refunds and federal benefits could be reduced or withheld beginning in June if they did not resume making payments.

The department warned that the next step is wage garnishment. Until borrowers resolve the default status, or pay the past-due balance in full, they could have up to 15% of their pay docked from their paychecks.

The Biden administration paused student-loan payments during the pandemic, giving borrowers a 12-month "on-ramp" period in 2023 where their credit scores would not be affected by late or missed payments. That protection ended last fall.

Since then, borrowers who have been reported as delinquent have seen their credit scores drop by an average of 60 points, according to TransUnion. Just 9% of those who fell behind on payments had caught up by April.

Education officials are continuing outreach efforts to encourage borrowers to resume repayment and warning of the consequences of failure to do so. More than $1.6 trillion in student-loan debt is held by roughly 43 million borrowers.

According to data released by the New York Federal Reserve in March, more than nine million borrowers will see their credit scores fall in 2025.

One million student-loan borrowers are set to default by August, and 2 million are on track for September, TransUnion figures show.