A question that many students ask often is: Why am I receiving federal student loan bills from a company rather than the U.S. Department of Education? If you have asked yourself a similar question this may help:

What is a loan servicer?

A loan servicer is a company that handles the billing and other services on your federal student loans.  The statement that you receive in the mail is coming from a loan servicer on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education.

How do I find out who my loan servicer is?

To view information about all of the federal student loans you have received and to find contact information for your loan servicer, visit www.nslds.ed.gov and select “Financial Aid Review.” You will then be prompted to log in using your FSA ID, so make sure you have that handy.

Note: If you have multiple federal student loans, you may have more than one loan servicer, so make sure you click through each loan individually for information specific to that loan.

Why does it matter?

There are several reasons that being familiar with your loan servicer is important, including the fact that your loan servicer:

• is the company in which you will make payments to;
• can help you choose or change your repayment plan;
• can help you learn about loan consolidation or your forgiveness, cancellation or discharge options; and
• can counsel you on ways to make your payments more affordable.

 

Moral of the story: Keep in contact with your loan servicer!

The student loan repayment process can be confusing, especially if you’re new at it, but your loan servicer is there to help. Make sure you stay in touch with them and use the resources they have available for you.