Who Is My Federal Loan Servicer & Why Is It Important to Know?
A federal loan servicer is an agency that helps a borrower handle billing and other services during repayment of federal student loans. The loan agreement is still directly with the federal government and all terms and conditions remain the same, the only difference is the borrower will now contact their loan servicer with any questions about their loan details or repayment.
Students are assigned a loan servicer by the United States Department of Education after their loan is disbursed to the school. A borrower cannot choose their loan servicer. The loan servicer will notify the student that they are the assigned loan servicer for their loans, and will give the student information on how to set up an online account. If a parent has borrowed a federal Parent PLUS Loan, the parent will be assigned a loan servicer, too. This loan servicer may be different than the one for the student. The US Department of Education does their best to assign all of a student’s loans to the same loan servicer for ease of repayment.
Your loan servicer is a helpful resource to:
- Confirm loan types, amounts, interest rates and outstanding balances on each loan
- Update your contact information
- Set up automatic payments or make one-time payments
- Choose, change or research repayment plans
- Apply for deferment or forbearance on your loans
Your loan servicer wants to ensure that you are successful during repayment. If you are having trouble with repayment, contact your loan servicer as soon as possible to discuss your options.