Key Takeaways
- Student loan servicers manage payments, billing, and repayment plans for borrowers.
- Federal borrowers are assigned servicers; private lenders may manage loans directly.
- Servicer transfers can happen but don’t affect loan terms or ownership.
- Complaints about servicers can be filed with the DoE or the Ombudsman Group.
A student loan servicer is a company that handles all administrative tasks related to your student loan debt.
These companies either manage federal loans on behalf of the Department of Education or handle private loans directly.
You’ll interact with an assigned student loan servicer throughout your higher education and up until you complete your student loan payments.
Therefore, it’s important to understand how student loan servicers assist with managing loans and payments.
Table of Contents
What Do Student Loan Servicers Do?
Whether you’ve taken federal or private student loan debt, loan servicers perform the following tasks:
- Billing: Your servicer’s main role is collecting payments, and they will send you a monthly bill detailing the amount due and any accrued interest.
- Repayment: Before or after you graduate (depending on whether you have private or federal student loan debt), a loan servicing company will offer several repayment plans. Examples include income-driven repayment options.
A student loan servicer can also step in if you need help keeping up with your loan payments.
The company will work with you to refinance or consolidate your loans, potentially helping you save money while streamlining the payment process.
While in school, you’ll need to contact your loan servicer when you do the following:
- Withdraw the disbursed loans
- Graduate from college
- Fall below half-time enrollment
- Stop attending college
Once you graduate, contact your assigned servicing company to update it when you:
- Change your name, address, or phone number
- Have questions related to your bill
- Need help with your loan payments; or
- Have other student loan queries
Sharing accurate information and reaching out to your servicer with any issues ensures they can assist you effectively.
If you’re expecting a loan disbursement soon, your servicer won’t have details about:
- Its status
- Disbursement amounts or timing; or
- The timeframe for canceling it in full or in part.
You can get the above information from your college’s financial aid office.
Do You Have to Pay a Student Loan Servicer?
No, federal and private student loan servicers assist with your loan payments at no cost.
Beware of scammers who pose as loan servicers asking you to pay a subscription, enrolment, or maintenance “fee” for administering your loan payments.
Similarly, be wary of anyone asking for payment to enroll you in public service loan forgiveness or similar relief programs.
They’re fraudsters offering assistance for services you’re eligible for by default (as a student).
How Do You Get a Student Loan Servicer?
Federal student loan borrowers can’t choose the loan servicing companies that administer their student loans.
The Department of Education (DoE) assigns student loan servicers after disbursing the first loan installment.
Once federal borrowers receive the money, their assigned loan servicers will contact them.
In contrast, a private lender may use an external loan servicer, handle the administration in-house, or both.
For example, Citizens Bank currently uses a split servicing model due to moving its loan servicing operations from Firstmark Services to Citizens.
How to Find Your Student Loan Servicer
Students who’ve taken federal loans can find their loan servicer by following the steps below:
- Log into your student loan account dashboard on the Federal Student Aid website.
- Scroll down to the “My Loan Servicers” menu option.
- Alternatively, contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) at 1800-433-3243.
Currently, the US government’s education department works with the following loan servicers:
- Nelnet: Nelnet is a Lincoln, Nebraska-based company. As one of the country’s largest loan servicers (also listed on the New York Stock Exchange), it handles private and federal student loans. It owns Great Lakes Educational Services and services student loans via FedLoans.
- ECSI: Educational Computer Systems, Inc. was established in 1972. The company focuses exclusively on federal student loans but offers other services related to tax, tuition repayment, and refunds.
- Default Resolution Group: Default Resolution Group is an arm of the DoE. It works with federal loan borrowers who’ve defaulted or have grant overpayments.
- EDFinancial Services: Tennessee-based EdFinancial Services offers servicing for private and federal loans. The company, which has operated for over 30 years, also supports schools that need assistance processing financial aid and related tasks.
- Aidvantage: Aidvantage is an arm of Maximus Education, LLC, focusing on Direct and Federal Family Education Loans. In 2021, the DoE transferred many of the loans Navient, another loan servicing company, was servicing to it.
- MOHELA: For over four decades, Missouri-based MOHELA has helped administer federal student loans on behalf of the DoE. It has branches in St.Louis (its headquarters) and Columbia, Missouri, with another in Washington, DC.
See the table below for their contact details:
| Servicer | Address | Telephone | Website |
| Nelnet | P.O. Box 82561, Lincoln, NE 68501-2561 | 1 (888) 486-4722 | www.nelnet.com |
| ECSI | P.O. Box 1289, Moon Township, PA 15108 | 1 (888) 549-3274 | https://heartland.ecsi.net/ |
| Default Resolution Group | P.O. Box 5609, Greenville, TX 75403-5609 | 1 (800) 621-3115 | https://myeddebt.ed.gov/ |
| EDFinancial Services | P.O. Box 36008, Knoxville, TN 37930-6008 | 1 (855) 337-6884 | www.edfinancial.com |
| Aidvantage | P.O. Box 300001, Greenville, TX 75403-3001 | 1 (800) 722-1300 | https://aidvantage.com/ |
| MOHELA | 633 Spirit Drive, Chesterfield, MO 63005-1243 | 1 (888) 866-4352 | www.mohela.com |
As mentioned, if you get a private student loan, your lender may double as a loan servicer or work with one of the above servicers who handle federal and private loans.
Is It Possible to Change Loan Servicers?
As with choosing a loan servicer, federal borrowers have little to no say in changing assigned loan servicers.
However, the DoE may transfer your loan from one servicer to another.
When that happens, the new servicer takes over the administrative duties of servicing your loan.
When your loan is transferred to a new servicer, your current one will notify you by email.
Your new one will subsequently send you a welcome email (or letter) providing its contact information and details of the next steps (including how to create an online account with it).
Once you receive the first email, send all future loan payments to your new servicer.
If you pay via your bank or a bill-paying service, give either company the new servicer’s contact information.
Regarding the next steps, your current servicer will transfer your loan information to the new one.
Both companies will coordinate to ensure that any payments made during the transition are credited to your account with the new servicer.
Please note that federal student loan servicer transfers don’t affect ownership of your loans.
The DoE will remain your creditor. Also, note that loan servicer transfers don’t affect your loan terms.
Although we mentioned it’s next to impossible to change loan servicers yourself, there’s a workaround: refinancing your federal loans with a private lender of your choice.
Refinancing can be an excellent way to have more autonomy over who handles your loan repayments while offering leeway via an extended repayment term.
Reach out to our experts for a free consultation to see if refinancing is suitable for you.
I Have Complaints About My Assigned Loan Servicer. What Can I Do?
If you don’t like how your loan servicer handles your debt, you can file a complaint on the Student Aid complaints page.
While it’s not necessary to log into your FSA account to issue a complaint, we advise you to do so anyway.
You can also contact the DoE’s Student Loan Ombudsman Group if you’ve already complained but didn’t get a response.
The Ombudsman Group helps to resolve issues with student loans.
Either log into your FSA account and request a resolution through the site or call the group at 1-877-557-2575.
If that doesn’t work, consider writing to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Federal Student Aid. The address is P.O. Box 1854, Monticello, KY 42633.
Get Advice on Your Student Loan Payments From Our Experts
Student loan servicers exist to make administering your loan payments smoother.
Even though you can’t choose which servicer you work with, refinancing offers an excellent workaround.
Book a consultation to get one-on-one advice from our experts about the pros and cons of refinancing your federal loans.
