Around 9.5 million people - 1 in 5 federal student loan borrowers - are in default, meaning they are more than nine months behind on their payments.
The 8 million borrowers enrolled in the student loan forgiveness program Saving on a Valuable Education Plan could have to start paying again as it is under threat from the courts and President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it will begin garnishing the wages of student loan borrowers who are in default early next year.
Nursing advocates are responding to the Trump administration's omission of nursing from its definition of "professional degree" programs.
The debt includes mortgages, car loans, credit cards and student loans.
The Trump administration has agreed to resume student loan forgiveness for an estimated 2.5 million borrowers who are enrolled in certain in certain federal repayment plans following a lawsuit from the American Federation of Teachers.