A student loan servicer is a company or organization that manages your repayment, collects and processes student loan payments, or helps you enroll in the right plan. As a federal student loan borrower, you don’t get to choose your loan servicer. Instead, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) assigns one to you.
If you’ve just graduated and have yet to make loan payments, you may not know what company manages them. Or, while your loans were in deferment or forbearance, you may have forgotten.
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You can find your federal student loan servicer by logging into StudentAid.gov. For private loans, you’ll have to review your statements or credit reports.
How do I find my federal student loan servicer?
You can find your federal student loan servicer by logging into your dashboard on StudentAid.gov. Once you log in, scroll down to the “My Loan Servicers” section.
After logging in, you’ll see other important information, like your loan status, loan amount, and disbursement date.
Another way to find your federal loan servicer is to contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) at 1-800-433-3243.
Depending on your servicer, you may be able to manage your repayment via the Federal Student Aid website or via your servicer’s separate site. Either way, it’s critical to gain access so you can take steps like changing your repayment plan, making payments, or requesting forbearance or deferment. Plus, some servicers will give you a discount of 0.25 percentage points for enrolling in autopay.
What does a federal student loan servicer do?
A federal student loan servicer helps you with many student loan-related tasks. Here’s what they can do:
- Keep track of payments: Once you start paying on your federal student loan, your servicer will keep track of each payment. If you deferred in-school repayment, expect to make your first loan payment six months after you graduate (or when your “grace period” expires).
- Change repayment plans: All federal loan borrowers start off on the standard 10-year repayment plan, which separates your debt into 120 payments. However, if you find the monthly payment is too high, your servicer can help you apply for an income-driven repayment plan.
- Request forbearance or deferment: If you experience any financial hardship, you can request a forbearance or deferment on your loans, which postpones your monthly payments temporarily.
- Loan consolidation: For most borrowers, it’s better to consolidate your federal loans rather than refinancing them, as you can lose federal benefits by transitioning your education debt to a private lender. Your federal loan servicer can help you consolidate your federal loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan. Keep in mind that you can’t consolidate private student loans with the federal government.
- Loan forgiveness: Depending on your situation, you might qualify for student loan forgiveness programs, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness or Teacher Loan Forgiveness.
Private student loan lenders also keep track of your payments, and some offer forbearance or deferment as well as refinancing. However, they do not offer the same repayment plans as a federal servicer. Speak with your lender about what services they offer, as it can vary.
How do I contact my federal student loan servicer?
After you’ve found your servicer, you can contact them by phone. Below is a table of the seven companies that currently service federal student loans — including their phone numbers:
What happened to my servicer?
Some servicers ended their contracts with the Department of Education, and there are more to come. Here’s what you need to know:
Servicers no longer contracted:
- FedLoan Servicing’s contract ended with Federal Student Aid on Dec. 14, 2022. The Department of Education transferred the loans it managed to MOHELA.
- Granite State’s (GSMR) contract ended after December 2021, with their loans transferring to Edfinancial.
- Navient ended its contract after December 2021, and its loans transferred to Aidvantage, a servicing arm of Maximus.
Servicers in the process of transferring:
- Great Lakes Educational Loan Services Inc. began transferring its loans to Nelnet in March 2022.
Servicers with expiring contracts:
- Nelnet, Edfinancial, MOHELA, and Aidvantage contracts expire in December 2023.
What if my student loan servicer changes?
If your student loan servicer changes, you should receive an email or letter from your new loan servicer that includes its name and contact information.
Once the Department of Education completes your student loan servicer transfer, you should receive instructions from your new servicer on accessing your new online account and making payments. Your student loan terms will remain the same.
Tip:
Before your servicer transfers your loans, it’s best to save your payment history from your account in case there are discrepancies down the road. Also, update your information so your new servicer can reach you.
What if I have private student loans?
If you also have private student loans, you can find your servicer by reviewing your monthly statements or credit reports.
Good to know:
You can see your Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit reports for free weekly through Dec. 30, 2023 at AnnualCreditReport.com.
Like with federal loan servicing transfers, sometimes, private student loans can change hands. It’s important to maintain communication with your lender and loan servicer in case your education debt is sold to another company or migrates to a new servicer.
If you need another private student loan, the companies in the table below are Credible’s approved partner lenders. Whether you’re the borrower or cosigner, Credible makes it easy to compare rates from multiple private student loan providers without affecting your credit score.
FAQs
What if my federal loans aren’t owned by the Department of Education?
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Can I change my student loan servicer?
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