If you log in to your account on the federal website, StudentAid.gov, you’ll find your dashboard with details on how much you owe and the status of your loans — whether they are in repayment, for example, or default. If it’s the latter, you may also see a warning at the top.

After five years of pause, confusion and court battles, the U.S. Department of Education will soon restart collections on defaulted student loans. On Monday, more than five million borrowers could face credit-score reductions,