• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The College Investor

Student Loans, Investing, Building Wealth

  • About
  • Podcast
  • Research
  • Contact
  • Save For College
      • How To Start

      • How To Save For College
      • How To Pay For College
      • What Is the Average Cost of College?
      • What Is A 529 Plan and Where to Open One in Your State
      • How Much Should You Have In A 529 Plan By Age
      • How To Use A 529 Plan For Private Elementary And High School
      • What Are Qualified Expenses For A 529 Plan (And What Doesn’t Count)?
      • The Best Brokers To Open A 529 Plan
      • Tools + Accounts

      • 529 Plans: The Ultimate College Savings Plan
      • 529 Plan Contribution Limits
      • Prepaid Tuition Plans | What To Know
      • Understanding And Using 529A ABLE Accounts
      • Using A Roth IRA To Save And Pay For College
      • FAFSA Deadlines for Financial Aid
      • CollegeBacker Review
      • Upromise Review
      • UNest Review
      • Other Options

      • Student Loan And Financial Aid Programs By State
      • The Guide To Military And VA Education Benefits
      • How To Fill Out The FAFSA
      • How To Find College Scholarships
      • The Best College Scholarship Search Websites
      • How To Find Grants To Pay For College
      • Pell Grants: What They Are And How To Qualify
      • Understanding Federal Work-Study
      • How To Use A 529 Plan If Your Child Doesn’t Go To College
  • Student Loans
      • Borrowing

        • How Student Loans Work
        • How To Apply For A Student Loan
        • How To Find The Best Student Loans And Rates
        • Best Private Student Loans Of June 2022
        • Best Student Loans To Pay For Graduate School
        • Best Student Loans To Pay For Medical School
        • Parent Loans To Pay For College
        • No-Cosigner Student Loan Options
        • Guide To Income Sharing Agreements (ISAs)
        • Best International Student Loans
      • Get Out Of Debt

        • Best Places To Refinance Student Loans In June 2022
        • Best Student Loan Repayment Plans
        • Best Student Loan Refinancing Bonuses And Promotional Offers
        • Student Loan Forgiveness Programs (The Complete List)
        • The Full List Of Student Loan Forgiveness Programs By State
        • Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
        • Top Student Loan Scams
        • Average Student Loan Monthly Payment
        • Average Student Loan Debt By Year
      • Reviews

        • Credible Review
        • Splash Review
        • Ascent Review
        • Citizens Bank Review
        • Commonbond Review
        • Earnest Review
        • ELFI Review
        • Laurel Road Review
        • LendKey Review
        • SoFi Review
  • Investing
      • How To Start

        • How To Start Investing in High School
        • How To Start Investing In College
        • How To Start Investing In Your Twenties For 22 – 29 Year Olds
        • How To Start Investing In Your 30s For 30 – 39 Year Olds
        • How To Start Investing With $100 Or Less
        • How To Give Kids The Gift Of Stock
        • What Is Dividend Growth Investing
        • IRA Rollover Chart
      • Tools + Accounts

        • Best Online Stock Brokers
        • The Best Traditional And Roth IRA Accounts
        • The Best Robo-Advisors
        • The Best Investing Apps
        • The Best Places to Trade Options
        • The Best Places To Open A Health Savings Account
        • The Best Solo 401k Providers
        • The Best Self-Directed IRA Providers Of 2022
        • Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges
      • Reviews

        • Vanguard Review
        • Fidelity Review 2022: Still One Of The Best Online Brokers
        • M1 Finance Review
        • TD Ameritrade Review
        • Charles Schwab Review
        • Robinhood Review
        • Webull Review
        • Betterment Review
        • Wealthfront Review
  • Earn More Money
      • Extra Income

        • 15 Best Side Hustles You Can Start Earning With In 2022
        • 53 Side Hustle Ideas To Make Extra Money
        • 100 Ways To Make Money In College
        • 80 Ways To Make Money From Home (In Your Pajamas)
        • 5 Quick Money Making Ideas (That Take Less Than 1 Hour)
        • 10 Interesting Ways You Can Make Money Driving
        • High-Paying Side Gigs That Earn $1,000 or More Per Month
        • The 10 Best Money-Making Apps
        • Paid Surveys: Earn Money For Giving Your Opinion Online
        • 10 Crazy Ways To Make $10,000 You’ve Never Heard Of
      • Build Wealth

        • 35 Passive Income Ideas You Can Use To Build Wealth In 2022
        • 3 Ways To Make $50,000 Per Year Without Working With Passive Income
        • How To Become A Real Estate Investor With Just $500
        • 15 Best Online Business Ideas
        • How to Create Streams of Passive Income on a Limited Budget
        • Residual Income: 7 Super Smart Ways to Build It
        • The Most Common Multiple Income Streams
        • How To Become A Real Estate Mogul With Only $10,000
      • Reviews

        • Fundrise Review
        • RealtyMogul Review
        • FarmTogether Review
        • AcreTrader Review
        • Swagbucks Review
        • Survey Junkie Review
        • TopCashback Review
        • DoorDash Review
  • Personal Finance
      • Banking

        • Best High Yield Savings Accounts Of June 2022
        • 10 Best Money Market Accounts Of June 2022
        • 10 Best Free Checking Accounts In June 2022
        • The Best Bank CD Rates Of June 2022
        • 10 Best Business Checking Accounts In June 2022
        • The Best Online Banks Of June 2022
        • 5 Best Credit Unions Nationwide Of June 2022
        • Best College Student Checking Accounts In June 2022
      • Insurance

        • Best Life Insurance Companies
        • Renters Insurance
        • Car Insurance
        • Pet Insurance
        • Umbrella Insurance
        • Disability Insurance
        • Tuition Insurance
        • Travel Insurance
      • Credit Tools

        • Best Budgeting Apps
        • Cash Advance Apps
        • How To Get A Free Credit Score Report
        • The Best Credit Monitoring Services
        • Debt Settlement: Inside The Secret World
        • Credit Repair Explained: Should You Pay For Help?
        • Best Personal Loan Companies And Lenders
        • Online Loan Companies To Borrow From Home
      • Tax

        • Best Tax Software
        • Free Tax Software
        • IRS Tax Refund Calendar
        • Common IRS Questions and Errors
        • Federal Tax Brackets
        • Capital Gains Tax Brackets
        • 401k Contribution Limits
        • IRA Contribution Limits
        • HSA Contribution Limits
  • Forum
  • Search
Home » Student Loans » Federal » OSLA Student Loan Servicing Problems

OSLA Student Loan Servicing Problems

Updated: November 2, 2021 By Robert Farrington

Tweet20
Share2
Share
Pin2
Email

At The College Investor, we want to help you navigate your finances. To do this, many or all of the products featured here may be from our partners. This doesn’t influence our evaluations or reviews. Our opinions are our own. Learn more here.Advertiser Disclosure

There are thousands of financial products and services out there, and we believe in helping you understand which is best for you, how it works, and will it actually help you achieve your financial goals. We're proud of our content and guidance, and the information we provide is objective, independent, and free.

But we do have to make money to pay our team and keep this website running! Our partners compensate us. TheCollegeInvestor.com has an advertising relationship with some or all of the offers included on this page, which may impact how, where, and in what order products and services may appear. The College Investor does not include all companies or offers available in the marketplace. And our partners can never pay us to guarantee favorable reviews (or even pay for a review of their product to begin with).

For more information and a complete list of our advertising partners, please check out our full Advertising Disclosure. TheCollegeInvestor.com strives to keep its information accurate and up to date. The information in our reviews could be different from what you find when visiting a financial institution, service provider or a specific product's website. All products and services are presented without warranty.

OSLA is one of the smaller federal loan servicers out there. The Oklahoma Student Loan Authority, or OSLA, is a nonprofit company, created in 1972 by the state of Oklahoma, and sustains itself through its own revenue.

Originally created to mainly serve Oklahomans or students in Oklahoma, they service loans taken out by borrowers all around the country.

OSLA Student Loan Servicing Problems

Their office is also open for borrowers to visit during the week, which is different from the mega-servicers like Navient or Nelnet, who don’t advertise in-person visits. 

OSLA’s primary business comes from servicing federal student loans. By the end of 2009, it had serviced $1.6 billion of student loans. OSLA solely serviced FFELP loans for many years, before being assigned Direct Loans after the program was created.

Table of Contents
Top Problems With OSLA Student Loan Servicing
1. Suddenly In Default!
2. Customer Service Confusion
3. Reporting Wrong Information To The Credit Bureaus
4. Navigating A Slow System
How to Contact OSLA Customer Service
How to Get More Help For Your OSLA Student Loans

Top Problems With OSLA Student Loan Servicing

In terms of quality of service, OSLA has very few publicly posted complaints. Frankly, this is pretty refreshing since many servicers have hundreds of complaints posted online. Whether this is due to OSLA’s small size or because it is a high-quality servicer is not clear. It could be a mixture of both.

However, there are some strongly-worded complaints that do appear on the websites of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Better Business Bureau, and various other places around the web. They may shed light into some of the ongoing issues that borrowers with loans serviced by OSLA experience.

If you're not quite sure where to start or what to do, consider hiring a CFA or CFP to help you with your student loans. We recommend The Student Loan Planner to help you put together a solid financial plan for your student loan debt. Check out The Student Loan Planner here.

1. Suddenly In Default!

No one wants to be in default. But usually — and I say, usually — if the loan is solely in your name, you know when you haven’t been making payments. Imagine logging in to your student loan account and seeing you’re in default with no prior warning.

This happened to an OSLA borrower. First, she realized her online account was displaying her one loan as two loans. Even worse, one was in default. Since the borrower had consolidated her multiple loans into one loan years prior, she was confused how this was possible. She noticed the change after she had inquired about changing her payment amount.

While OSLA acknowledged that the conversation about the payment plan happened, they didn’t seem to give an explanation at the time of writing as to why the account showed the loan split in two.

After communication with the company, the borrower wrote more: she seemed to have not been informed about the nature of her repayment schedule and payment amounts some years before. It’s not clear whether she misunderstood or the servicer did not do due diligence to inform her properly. Still, whether the consolidated loan displays as multiple parts or not, it can never be partially in default. This remains a mystery.

2. Customer Service Confusion

When you have a technical issue with your loan account, the ideal scenario is to contact customer service and get it resolved. But when customer service is evasive and confusing, it can make the matter several times worse than the original problem.

One woman was attempting to pay loans serviced by OSLA for her parents, who are the borrowers, as well as change the address on the account. Her father had called asking for help when a payment wouldn’t go through and the address wouldn’t change. When that didn’t resolve the matter, the daughter called on behalf of her parents. 

Despite having the account information and her father’s Social Security number on hand, she was blocked from proceeding with the account because her father had not signed a release to her. The daughter said that she felt customer service failed to clearly explain any of their procedures to her. She left the call feeling confused and unheard, the payment problems still unresolved.

3. Reporting Wrong Information To The Credit Bureaus

A bad mark on a credit report can be the fatal blow to your ability to get a mortgage, a car loan, a rental, and much more. Here's how to check your credit reports for free.

One unfortunate borrower reported that OSLA was reporting incorrect information to the credit agencies. To make matters more unfortunate, the borrower was in the middle of attempting to secure a mortgage. The borrower’s loans were showing up 90 days delinquent and compromising their credit score.

The borrower said that when they were allegedly delinquent, the loans were actually in forbearance. The borrower also said they had submitted multiple documents showing that this forbearance took place.

Their case was fairly urgent because they were right in the middle of the home buying process and needed to move to start a new job. The complaint was closed. But it’s unclear if the borrower ever got the problem resolved or was able to purchase a home. We have a full guide on what to do if your student loan lender reports wrong information to the credit bureaus here.

4. Navigating A Slow System

A smaller servicer also means less personnel. While ideally the ratio of borrowers-to-employees would be appropriately scaled, this may not always be the case.

Several complaints online detail multiple emails sent to OSLA with no or slow responses, being put on hold for half-hour stints, and follow-ups that borrowers waited for days to receive.

And while the OSLA website may appear straightforward to me, that outdated look may speak to larger issues with navigation and access. Over the years, several people have complained about the difficulty of making payments on the website, which ostensibly should be the easiest action one could possibly do on a servicer website.

How to Contact OSLA Customer Service

You can reach out to Cornerstone customer service through the following:

Phone number: (866) 264-9762

Hours of operation: 8-5. Mon-Fri (CT)

General mailing address:

OSLA
P.O. Box 18475
Oklahoma City, OK 73154-0475

Address for sending payments:

US Department of Education - OSLA
P.O. Box 4278
Portland, OR 97208-4278

Email/online contact form: DLcustserv@osla.org

How to Get More Help For Your OSLA Student Loans

While OSLA is one of the better servicers out there, that doesn’t mean they haven’t made mistakes or need improvement. If you're having issues with OSLA, or any of your servicers, you aren’t alone.

Whether you’re in the middle of dealing with a problem or just trying to prevent one, it’s important you are vigilant about your loans. Frequently log in to your account online or review your paper statements. If you see something you don’t understand, address the problem immediately.

Because we’ve seen that a servicer’s customer service is not always helpful, you may want to do your own research about your particular issue. This may make your experience with your servicer more productive, or just allow you to find other ways to solve the problem.

If you're not quite sure where to start or what to do, consider hiring a CFA or CFP to help you with your student loans. We recommend The Student Loan Planner to help you put together a solid financial plan for your student loan debt. Check out The Student Loan Planner here.

Robert Farrington
Robert Farrington

Robert Farrington is America’s Millennial Money Expert® and America’s Student Loan Debt Expert™, and the founder of The College Investor, a personal finance site dedicated to helping millennials escape student loan debt to start investing and building wealth for the future. You can learn more about him on the About Page, or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.

He regularly writes about investing, student loan debt, and general personal finance topics geared towards anyone wanting to earn more, get out of debt, and start building wealth for the future.

He has been quoted in major publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Fox, ABC, NBC, and more. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes.

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, or other advertiser and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
Comment Policy: We invite readers to respond with questions or comments. Comments may be held for moderation and are subject to approval. Comments are solely the opinions of their authors'. The responses in the comments below are not provided or commissioned by any advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any company. It is not anyone's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Subscribe
Connect with
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
4 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Primary Sidebar

Featured Lender Reviews

>  Credible (recommended)
>  Splash (recommended)
>  ELFI
>  Commonbond
>  LendKey
>  Earnest
>  Laurel Road

More On Student Loans

  • Best Private Student Loans Of June 2022
  • Top Student Loan Scams
  • How To Find The Best Student Loans And Rates
  • Best Places To Refinance Student Loans In June 2022
  • Best Student Loan Refinancing Bonuses And Promotional Offers
  • Student Loan Forgiveness Programs (The Complete List)
  • Student Loan And Financial Aid Programs By State

Footer

Who We Are

The College Investor is an independent, advertising-supported publisher of financial content, including news, product reviews, and comparisons.

Connect

  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Press & Media

About

  • About
  • Our Team
  • Podcast
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • How We Make Money
  • Archives

Social

Copyright © 2022 · The College Investor · Privacy Policy ·Terms of Service · DO NOT Sell My Personal Information

wpDiscuz