In February, the Department of Education plans to turn on the nation’s student debt collection machinery for the first time in nearly two years. There’s a real danger it will not go well.

Many student debtors were rocked by unemployment, dislocation, and trauma during the pandemic. Even before the crisis, more than 1 million people defaulted on student debt every year. Bad loans can be a catastrophe, ruining credit and clouding financial futures. And recent history suggests the student loan restart could trigger a default crisis of unprecedented proportions.

In 2017,...