Who Is My Student Loan Servicer? | Student Loans and Advice

According to first quarter 2023 data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, borrowers in the U.S. owe more than $1.6 trillion in student loan debt.

That mountain of debt is handled by student loan servicers – companies that manage billing and other administrative tasks necessary to maintain these loans.

While borrowers don’t have to pay extra for what student loan servicers provide, it helps to know which company services your loan and the different ways they can assist you throughout the life of your loan. Having this information can help you get the most out of your loan-servicer relationship.

Student loan servicers handle the day-to-day upkeep of student loan accounts. It’s not a small task, either. Some common tasks that servicers manage include:

Basically, your student loan servicer is your go-to for your loan once funds have been disbursed.

If you’re having trouble making payments, you may be able to get help by talking to your loan servicer. Loan servicers may help you work through payment plan options, forbearance or deferment periods or, in some cases, loan forgiveness, cancellation or discharge.

If you have federal student loans, your servicer can explain the payment plans available to you and help you secure a plan that works for you. Repayment plans available to those with federal student loans include:

If you have private loans, your repayment plan options will vary by lender. For instance, Sallie Mae offers a Graduated Repayment Period that allows eligible borrowers to make interest-only payments for 12 months.

If you want to request a change to your private loan’s repayment plan, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau advises gathering evidence for your private student loan servicer to review. Bank statements, a budget and payment information for your other bills can be useful.

If you’re having trouble making your federal student loan payments, you may want to request a deferment or forbearance, which could allow you to temporarily stop or reduce your payments. Your loan servicer can help with both.

You might not have to pay interest that accumulates during the deferment period. With a forbearance, you are responsible for paying the accumulated interest, no matter the type of federal loan.

If you have private student loans, your deferment and forbearance options will depend on your loan servicer.

But regardless of your loan type, it’s a good idea to contact your loan servicer as soon as possible about any difficulties you’re experiencing that affect your loan payments.

Under certain circumstances, you might qualify for forgiveness, cancellation or discharge. Your loan servicer can help you explore whether you qualify.

According to the Department of Education, federal loan forgiveness, cancellation and discharge all lead to the same outcome: You’re no longer required to pay your loans. However, these terms apply to different situations.

Forgiveness or cancellation typically refers to situations when you are no longer required to pay your loan because you completed certain work requirements. The Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden’s loan forgiveness plan in a June 30 decision.

Loan discharge means you no longer have to make payments as a result of circumstances including a total and permanent disability or the closure of the school where you received your loan.

You generally can’t pick your loan servicer. If you have a federal loan, the Department of Education assigns your servicer. For private student loans, lenders either service the loans themselves or outsource servicing to another company.

But both federal and private student loans can undergo a servicer change, under certain circumstances.

If the Department of Education transfers your student loans to a different loan servicing company, you’ll receive communication from both the Department of Education and your new servicer.

Always open and read any letters or emails you receive about your loan in case the Department of Education is notifying you of a transfer to a different servicer, says Rick Castellano, vice president of corporate communications at Sallie Mae.

Communications will include a letter, email or both that explain the transfer notice and include information about your new student loan servicer. Your new servicer will reach out once your loans have been transferred and then be your point of contact going forward.

Your original federal student loan terms won’t change if the Department of Education transfers your loan to a new servicer, says Cindy Dehls, vice president of student lending at PNC Bank. “The interest rate and repayment options will be honored and will not be adjusted or altered due to a change in servicer,” Dehls says. However, you may need to set up an online account with your new servicer to get payments going again.

If you opt to refinance your federal student loans, your loan servicer will be the company with which you refinance or the servicer that company uses. However, refinancing converts a federal loan to a private loan, and you will lose access to federal benefits and loan forgiveness options.

Finally, you can select your federal student loan servicer during consolidation. When consolidating multiple federal student loans, you can select your new loan servicer on your consolidation application

You typically can’t change your servicer for private student loans unless you refinance.

When you refinance student loans, you can compare lenders and rates. When you find a lender with rates and terms you like, you’ll apply for the loan and qualify based on your creditworthiness and other factors. Once you’re approved, the new lender will pay off your existing student loans.

If you can’t locate or remember who your servicer is for a federal student loan, you can visit the dashboard of your Federal Student Aid account. From there, go to the “my loan servicers” section to find your servicer for each federal student loan. You can also get servicer information by calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 800-433-3243

Finally, for both federal and private student loans, you can check your credit report. Once you graduate and start making payments, your credit report will include the name of your student loan servicer.

If you know your federal loan servicer but don’t know how to contact them, you can visit the Department of Education’s website and find contact information for all approved federal student loan servicing companies. Those servicers include:

According to a report from the CFPB, complaints about both private and federal student loans increased significantly between Sept. 1, 2021, and Aug. 31, 2022. The largest volume of those complaints – 66% – concerned borrowers who experienced issues with their lenders or servicers.

Some of the most commonly reported issues borrowers experienced include:

If you feel you’re not receiving good service from your current loan servicer, those with private loans could refinance away from the troublesome servicer. Those with federal loans could also consolidate and use the ability to select their servicer to potentially alleviate issues.

If you have a problem with your loan servicer that can’t be resolved through refinancing or consolidation, you have recourse. First, you can file a complaint directly with your loan servicer. If that doesn’t yield a favorable outcome, there are additional steps you can take depending on your loan type.

For complaints about federal student loan servicers, you can log into your FSA account and use the “submit a complaint” option. It’s possible to submit a complaint without logging in, but this may delay review of your complaint, according to the National Consumer Law Center.

Reviewed on July 3, 2023: The story was previously published at an earlier date.