College Loan Advice Your Student Loan Servicer May Change Written by Michelle Cliftonon December 28th, 2021 I began my career in higher education at Rhode Island School of Design, working with student accounts and student loans. At Babson College, I worked in a variety of roles in Student Financial Services, which allowed me to experience all aspects of the department including financial aid, student loans, and student accounts. As the associate director of financial aid, I provided financial aid counseling for undergraduate and graduate students, reviewed and awarded applications, processed appeals, and oversaw all loan processes. I have also been an active member of the Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators for almost a decade, serving on various committees. I am a volunteer for FAFSA Day Massachusetts, guiding students and parents to complete the online financial aid applications. Learn More About Michelle college loans, As we gear up for federal loan repayment to resume in 2022, borrowers should be aware that their loan servicer might change at any time over the life of the loan. In fact, borrowers who are currently assigned to Granite State Management & Resources and Navient should get ready to pay a new servicer once Federal Direct loans go back into repayment after May 1, 2022. Those currently assigned to FedLoan Servicing (PHEAA) should be prepare to transfer to a new loan servicer sometime later in 2022. Tips to Keep Track of Your Loans What is a loan servicer? The servicer handles the billing of your student loans—the company you will make payments to and who you will connect with for any repayment plan changes. The servicer is often different from the lender, which is where the funds originated. The U.S. Department of Education is the lender of Federal Direct student loans, but the government contracts with various servicers to collect on those loans. Private student loan lenders sometimes service their own loans, but they can also choose to outsource the servicing. How to Confirm Federal Loan Servicer The best way to find your current federal loan servicer is to log into the Federal Student Aid website and review the My Aid Dashboard. This website will also show when your first payment will be due when the current student loan repayment pause ends. Granite State Borrowers Granite State has started the process to transfer the Direct loans they held over to Edfinancial Services. Loans have transferred in groups and are set to complete by the end of 2021. Once these loans are with Edfinancial, borrowers receive a confirmation notice including the new website. The auto-debit information is with the new servicer, but they urge borrowers to verify the information once their loans are with Edfinancial. Navient Borrowers Navient will be transferring all of their Direct loans over to Aidvantage (Maximus) this month, with this process complete by the end of 2021. Navient has sent their borrowers various email notifications since October, most recently including a checklist of what to expect. Once these loans are with Aidvantage, borrowers will receive a welcome letter with the new website. They are planning for a smooth transition and have promised very few changes for borrowers. These borrowers will keep the same account numbers, customer service phone number, and addresses for mailed payments. They will also use their Navient user ID and password to access the Aidvantage website. FedLoan Servicing Borrowers FedLoan Servicing (PHEAA) has already transferred some of their Direct loans over to MOHELA. These borrowers had to create a new username and password on the MOHELA website. Since then they have extended their contract through December 2022, so more loan transfers from FedLoan Servicing to other servicers are expected in the next year. Tips for Success When federal loans transfer to new servicers, the loan terms, including interest rates and benefits, do not change. Borrowers who are anticipating a servicer change should save a copy of their current loan information and verify that their contact information is up to date so their new servicer will be able to reach them. Borrowers should read every notification from lenders and loan servicers. These are often in the form of email, but could be texts and mail as well. Loan borrowers often receive solicitations from refinance lenders and even loan forgiveness scams, so it can be tempting to ignore loan notifications. Now is not the time to disregard information from servicers. Again, the best way to confirm the current servicer is to log into the Federal Student Aid website. Upon transfer to a new loan servicer, it is vital to access account information on the new website to review account details, confirm contact information is accurate, and make note of an updated user ID and password for that new website. Check back with us in the new year, when we will provide more tips to get you ready for the first federal loan payment in 2022. Meet our team of college finance experts, former financial aid officers who know the ins and outs of college financing. Meet The Team Related Resources Read | Posted on April 11th, 2024 How Much College Debt is Too Much? Read | Posted on March 28th, 2024 What is a Federal Parent PLUS Loan? Read | Posted on February 6th, 2024 Is the SAVE Student Loan Repayment Plan Right for Me?
