Financial Aid and Scholarship Office
Whether you are returning to repayment for the first time since 2020 or making your first ever student loan payment, you can set yourself up for success by preparing early. No matter your circumstances, the steps outlined below will walk you through the process and connect you with resources for additional support.1. Update your personal information. To ensure that you have the most accurate information ahead of resuming your student loan repayments, you can log in to studentaid.gov using your FSA ID.2. Confirm your student loan servicer. Through studentaid.gov, you will be able to update your personal contact information and confirm your student loan servicer. If you don’t know who your servicer is, you can find out by logging on to studentaid.gov and visiting the “My Loan Servicers” section of your dashboard. That section of the dashboard will also give you the servicer’s contact information. Since the student loan payment pause came into effect at the beginning of the COVID-19 emergency, it is possible that your servicer may have changed their name or changed completely to another entity.3. Log in to your student loan servicer account and update your contact information. Once you confirm your loan servicer, you should create an account or log in to an existing one via the servicer’s website to review your personal contact information. It is important to keep your contact information current on your servicer account so that they can reach you with important updates.4. Reauthorize or select auto debit for monthly payments. If you were previously signed up for automatic debit before the payment pause began, you must reauthorize or select automatic debit through your loan servicer account. This will allow your loan payments to be automatically withdrawn from your bank account every month. If you have direct loans, one of the benefits of signing up for automatic debit is a 0.25% interest rate deduction.5. Use tools on studentaid.gov and servicer’s portal to ensure your repayment plan is the best fit. There are available various resources that can help you choose the student loan repayment plan that is best for you and your needs.
When it comes time to start repaying your student loan(s), you can select a repayment plan that is right for your financial situation. Generally, you will have from 10 to 25 years to repay your loan, depending on which repayment plan you choose. View, Repayment Plans, for a list of repayment options.
If you are temporarily unable to meet your repayment obligation, you may be granted a forbearance, which lets you postpone or reduce your payments for an agreed upon period of time. You will still be responsible for any interest that accrues during the forbearance period, but you may be able to pay it later. A deferment is a temporary suspension of loan payments for specific situations such as re-enrollment in school, unemployment, or economic hardship. In most cases, you need to submit a deferment request to the Direct Loan Servicing Center. A deferment can take 30 days or more to process, so file as soon as possible. You must keep making your payments until you receive notice that your deferment has been approved. For more information on forbearance and deferment, visit www.studentlns.gov.
The Budget Control Act of 2011 eliminates the authority of the Department of Education to offer any repayment incentives to Direct Loan borrowers to encourage on-time repayment of loans, including any reduction in the interest rate or origination fee. As a result, the up-front interest rebate that was provided to DL borrowers at the time of loan disbursement will not be offered on any Direct Loan with a first disbursement date that is on or after July 1, 2012. The only authorized interest rate reductions are for those borrowers who agree to have their payments automatically electronically debited.
If you don't repay your loan.Delinquencies, or a monthly payment more than 30 days late, are reported to credit bureaus. This can hurt your chances for obtaining loans in the future, for cars, a home, etc. Also you may lose eligibility for further financial aid, deferments and forbearances until the delinquency is cleared up. Default occurs when there is no payment made for 270 days. In the event you go into default on your loan, be aware of the following penalties:
