Final Thoughts On Who Owns My Student Loans
Finding out who owns your student loans is the first step toward taking control of your student debt. If you know who owns your student loans, you can enroll in automatic payments, look up your loan balance, sign up for a repayment plan, apply for student loan forgiveness, and more. Take the time to look up your loan servicer today so that you can explore your options.
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How Can I Find Track And Manage My Student Loans
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How To Find Out Who Owns Your Student Loans
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Opportunities To Reduce Your Student Loans After Graduation
- The Nova Scotia Loan Forgiveness Program:
- Undergraduate Degrees: May eliminate your NS student loan for eligible programs completed at a NS University. It is assessed automatically. Learn more about eligibility
- Diplomas and Certificates: May eliminate your NS student loan for eligible programs completed at NSCC or a NS University. It is assessed automatically. Learn more about eligibility
- Students who have a Permanent Disability are automatically assessed a little differently for Loan Forgiveness, allowing more time for students to complete their program. Learn more about eligibility.
- The benefit is automatically assessed for all university students who meet the Debt Cap criteria
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The Future Of Federal Student Loan Servicers
There are changes coming to how federal student loans are serviced. The U.S. Department of Education is working to transition to what its calling the Next Gen platform, which will streamline online resources and cut back on the number of federal student loan servicers. Five servicers were selected for this new initiative, so many student loan borrowers will be shifted to a new servicer as the program is rolled out in the next few years.
Additionally, FedLoan Servicing, Navient and Granite State Management and Resources have all opted to exit their contracts with the Department of Education by the end of 2021. FedLoan loans will be transferred to MOHELA, Navient loans to Maximus and Granite State loans to Edfinancial Services. If you have loans managed by one of these companies, update your contact information to ensure that any emails are sent to your inbox and not your spam folder. Youll receive communications from your servicer and the Department of Education about the transition.
Once the change is in effect, monitor your student loan account and ensure that your payments go through correctly. You may have to sign up for automatic payments again.
What Is A Student Loan Servicer
The loan holder may choose to employ a loan servicer to manage the day-to-day activities of handling your loan account. The servicer takes care of billing, processing payments, providing repayment options, and sending communications to borrowers. If you want to set up a repayment plan, postpone payments, cancel a loan, or apply for some other government program, you need to know who services your federal student loan. Basically, the servicer is a third party that acts as a liaison between you and the holder of the loan.
You don’t get to choose your loan servicer. The loan holder assigns one. So, if you have federal student loans, the Department of Education picks your loan servicer.
What Is a Servicing Transfer?
Sometimes, a loan is transferred from one servicer to another. The holder, like the Department of Education, is still the holder. But the new servicer will handle the management of the loan.
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What Type Of Loan Do I Have
You must know what type of student loan you have in order to understand your options. You can use the National Student Loan Data System to find out what federal loans you have. As of February 2020, the NSLDS site is found on the Departments StudentAid.gov site. There is a large Log In button on the right side of the screen that you must use to see your account information . Once you enter your FSA ID, you will have access to a lot of information, including your student aid summary.
You must have a FSA ID to access your loan information. If you do not already have an FSA ID, you can create one by clicking on the Create Account button on the StudentAid.gov site. The Department has posted answers to frequently asked questions about the FSA ID system.
Once you access your loan dashboard, you will see an aid summary as well as more detailed information about each individual grant, loan, and aid overpayment. The Department says that the new dashboard will allow you to keep track of your remaining eligibility for Direct Subsidized Loans and Federal Pell Grants and Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants . You should also be able to track your progress toward repaying loans and track the number of qualifying payments made toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness if applicable. In addition, the aid summary will include information about your loan servicer and a link to the loan servicers website.
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If You Know The Lender
Contact your private student loan lender to see if they still own your loan. More often than not, the original lender owns the loan and will help you manage the loan. However, there is still a chance that another company now owns the loan. In that case, the original lender can provide you with the new loan servicers contact information.
If youre in default, the original lender can also give you contact information for the assigned collection agency.
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Student Loan Servicers: Who They Are And What They Do
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Keep your guard up: How to spot a student loan scam
A federal student loan servicer is the middleman between you and the federal government that lent you money for college. Getting to know your servicer is the secret weapon in the battle to get rid of your loans.
Student loan servicers collect your student loan bills and keep track of whether you pay them on time. They also help borrowers switch repayment plans, certify for forgiveness programs and sign up to postpone loan payments.
» MORE:How to change your student loan servicer
Your servicers job is to help keep your loans in good standing by giving you the support and resources you need. But they’re also private companies, which means they may offer choices that are not best for the borrower. You have to be your own advocate by knowing your repayment options and asking questions.
» MORE:What federal student loan servicing companies might not tell you
Tracking Down Your Lender Or Loan Servicer
You can find contact information for your private student loan lender on the emails or billing statements they should be sending you on a monthly basis when you enter repayment.
Some private lenders also send you a welcome packet or call you once you begin repayment. You can also look for their contact details on the documents you received when you first took out the loan, such as a promissory note.
If youve completely lost sight of your private student loan lender, you can confirm who they are by checking your credit report. You can request one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting agenciesEquifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The financial aid office at your school may also be able to help you track down your lender.
For federal student loans, one option for how to find your student loan lender is to check the National Student Loan Data System .
This Department of Education database is a centralized repository of information about your student loans, aggregating data from universities, federal loan programs, and more. You can also log in to My Federal Student Aid in order to confirm the name of your loan servicers and retrieve their contact information.
For federal student loans outside of the Direct Loan and FFEL programs, you can find out information about your loan servicer in other ways.
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How Can I Learn About My Student Loan
Direct Loan Borrower ServicesWhen your loan becomes due, the federal loan servicer will mail you a payment schedule listing your monthly payment on principal and interest and the unpaid balance for each month of the period it takes to repay your total debt. If they do not contact you, you are responsible for contacting them at: U.S. Department of Education, Borrower Services Dept., Direct Loan Servicing Center, P. O. Box 4609, Utica, NY 13504-4609, 848-0979 848-0983 . You can also contact Borrower Services online.
FFELP Loan Borrower ServicesIf you are a FFELP borrower it is likely that your loan is being serviced by Navient. You can create an online account and access it at any time, and keep updated on the status of your student loan.
National Student Loan Data System With your FSA ID, you can also access the National Student Loan Data System . This site contains the history about all of your financial aid including your student loans.
The Office of Financial AidCall the Brookdale Financial Aid Office at 732-224-2361 to speak with a Financial Aid Specialist.
Here’s How To Find The Holder Or Servicer For Your Loans
By , Attorney
Student loans that the federal government provides or guarantees usually fall into two categories: Federal Direct Loans and Federal Family Education Loans . The Department of Education makes Federal Direct Loans. Before July 1, 2010, the federal government also guaranteed loans that private lenders made. These loansFFELsare also considered federal student loans. Perkins Loans, another kind of federal student loans, were previously available toundergraduate, graduate, and professional students who had exceptional financial need.
No matter what type of federal student loans you have, you might need to know, and deal with, the loan holder or loan servicer.
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What To Watch Out For With Federal Loan Discharge
The benefits of getting your student loans discharged are clear: You no longer carry that debt and dont have to worry about repayments anymore. But there are a a couple factors you might want to consider before you apply.
Income taxes
With the exception of death and TPD discharge, the IRS counts the discharged amount of student loans as income. This means itll count toward your gross income when you file taxes for that year and could potentially put you in a higher tax bracket.
Student loan discharge scams
Make sure the student loan discharge program youre applying for is legit. You might have gotten phone calls advertising the Obama Loan Forgiveness Program or other fake student loan discharge programs. But often these are shams that could be attempts to steal money or your identity. Some student loan discharge scammers often:
- Ask for your FSA ID. The FSA never asks for your ID or password over the phone. Giving it away could allow the scammer to make changes to your account.
- Promise immediate discharge. Getting your student loans discharged never happens right away you have to apply.
- Tell you to act immediately. Scammers often try to pressure borrowers into giving personal information by saying a new law is about to discontinue the program.
- Ask for upfront or monthly fees. The FSA charges zero fees to apply for student loan discharge.
The easiest way to make sure your program is legit? Check the Federal Student Aid website before you apply to make sure its listed.
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Student Loan Planner® is a financial coaching company and does not claim to provide financial advice on investment products. Refinancing federal loans causes the borrower to lose access to income-based repayment plans as well as the PSLF program. We may earn compensation from advertising partners when you click on links on this site. Student Loan Planner® is not a debt settlement or debt relief company. We do not provide tax or legal advice.
Finding Your Private Student Loan Balances
Finding information about your private student loans can be a bit more difficult than getting your federal loan balances since private lenders sometimes sell their loans to other companies. If you’re not sure who your lender is for private student loans, call your school’s financial aid office for help or call your original lender if you know it.
If neither of those options works for you, you can figure out your private student loan lenders by reviewing your . The report should show all of your current debts and accounts, including all student loans.
You can safely get a free annual credit report from all three reporting agenciesEquifax, TransUnion, and Experianat AnnualCreditReport.com.
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Ways To See All Your Student Loans
Many students take out a student loan or two each semester while theyre in school. That means you will likely have several student loans by the time you leave school.
However, transitioning from college to the real world can be a busy and chaotic process. Between applying for jobs, starting a career or moving to a new city, it can be all too easy to lose track of student loans.
Heres how you can locate your student loans and make sure youve found them all.
