LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nearly 5 million people across the country have not made payments on their student loans for nearly a year (360 days), according to the U.S. Department of Education.
But starting May 5, the department will begin collecting money from those who have defaulted, the department announced last Monday.
WATCH | What the federal collection efforts will mean for Nevadans
Nearly 12% of Nevada’s student loan holders in default as federal collection efforts restart
The mandatory collections come after a five-year pause sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bethel Kifle, a second-year mechanical engineering student at UNLV, has only taken out one student loan so far.
“I was taking summer classes and since I couldn’t use the fall scholarship yet, I just took out a loan, so I don’t have to use my personal money cause again, I need it for — to pay other stuff like bills and stuff. The loan helped me get through that summer without being zero dollars in my banking account,” Kifle said.
Even though she won’t be required to pay the loan back until after graduation, Kifle already has a plan in place.
“The big scholarship I had, I ended up getting like $9,000 refund, so I saved that money just so I can use to pay back the loan that I took out,” Kifle said.
But not everyone is as prepared. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 42.7 million borrowers have more than $1.6 trillion in student debt.
Roughly $12.4 billion of that money is owed by Nevada borrowers, according to the Education Data Initiative. Nearly 12% of them are in default.
“If you take out a loan, you have to pay it back, it’s very simple,” said Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary.
While no loans have been sent to collections since 2020, Trump administration officials announced that will no longer be the case. They say people who don’t make a repayment plan by the May 5 deadline could face involuntary collections.
WATCH | Student loans in default to be referred to debt collection, Education Department says
Student loans in default to be referred to debt collection, Education Department says
“The government can and will collect defaulted federal student loans debt by withholding money from borrowers, tax refunds, federal pensions and even their wages,” Leavitt said.
Kifle’s recommendation for her fellow students is to keep applying for scholarships.
“Every semester, I’m still applying to scholarships. Loans should be the very last resort,” Kifle said.
All borrowers in default will receive email communications from Federal Student Aid (FSA) over the next two weeks making them aware of these developments and urging them to contact the Default Resolution Group to make a monthly payment, enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, or sign up for loan rehabilitation.
Detailed information to help borrowers get out of default is also available at StudentAid.gov/end-default.
This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
A recent Review-Journal letter to the editor mischaracterized Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, also known as the Clark County Lands bill. As the former executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, I wholeheartedly support this legislation, so I wanted to set the record straight.
Sen. Cortez Masto has been working on this bill for years in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups like the NCL and local area tribes. It’s true that the Clark County lands bill would open 25,000 acres to help Las Vegas grow responsibly, while setting aside 2 million acres for conservation. It would also help create more affordable housing throughout the valley while ensuring our treasured public spaces can be preserved for generations to come.
What is not correct is that the money from these land sales would go to the federal government’s coffers. In fact, the opposite is true.
The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act is a landmark bill that identified specific public land for future sale and created a special account ensuring all land sale revenues would come back to Nevada. In accordance with that law 5 percent of revenue from land transfers goes to the state of Nevada for general education purposes, 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for needed water infrastructure and 85 percent supports conservation and environmental mitigation projects in Southern Nevada. This legislation has provided billions to Clark County and will continue to benefit generations of Southern Nevadans. Sen. Cortez Masto’s lands bill builds upon the act’s success.
So here’s the good news: All of the money generated from land made available for sale under Sen. Cortez Masto’s bill would be sent to the special account created by the 1998 law. Rather than going to an unaccountable federal government, the proceeds would continue to help kids in Vegas get a better education, bolster outdoor recreation and modernize Southern Nevada’s infrastructure.
I know how important it is that money generated from the sale of public land in Nevada stay in the hands of Nevadans, and so does the senator. That’s why she opposed a Republican effort last year to sell off 200,000 acres of land in Clark County and other areas of the country that would have sent those dollars directly to Washington.
Public land management in Nevada should benefit Nevadans. We should protect sacred cultural sites and beloved recreation spaces, responsibly transfer land for affordable housing when needed and ensure our state has the resources it needs to grow sustainably. I will continue working with Sen. Cortez Masto to advocate for legislation, such as the Clark County lands bill, that puts the needs of Nevadans first.
Paul Selberg writes from Las Vegas.
click to expand photos
Las Vegas High’s baseball team claimed a 3-2 home win over Coronado on Friday.
Las Vegas (9-13-1) next hosts Rancho at 10 a.m. Saturday. Coronado (13-14) hosts Chaparral at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada’s jobless rate is holding steady, but the state is still adding jobs.
A new report from DETR shows February’s unemployment rate unchanged at 5.3 percent, with the labor force growing by nearly 3,800 people.
MORE ON FOX5: Nevada unemployment rate rises to 5.3% in January
Nevada now has about 1.6 million nonfarm jobs, up 2.2 percent over the past year and 1,500 more jobs than in January.
“This month’s report shows a strengthening labor market,” said David Schmidt, Chief Economist. ”Compared to the report for January, the pace of job gains in the past year increased from 1.9% to 2.2%, building on what was already the fastest pace of job growth in the country. While the unemployment rate remained stable, the labor force participation rate rose to 63.7%, 1.7 percentage points higher than the national level.”
In Las Vegas, employment ticked up by 1,100 jobs in February, about 0.1 percent, and is up more than 25,000 jobs compared to last year.
Reno added 1,000 jobs on the month, while Carson City shed about 200 but is still slightly above where it was a year ago.
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