Interesting to hear, and yeah one of the main issues with garnishing someones wages is, even the government has to do a bit of work to actually track down your employer and people who default on student loans don't tend to have very good employment (i'm not at all arguing you shouldnt pay them if you can actually afford to, just that you shouldnt go out of your way for it if you're struggling).

I wonder how much they got from 15% of that one employees wages, I'll bet it was less then they'd have to pay to actually pay off the loan... and of course if that person ever changes jobs they have to track down the new employer each time. also wonder how common it is for wages to be garnished over say child support compared, or back taxes to student loans..