Who is Trellis Company and why should you care? Well, if you have student loans and you're looking for help, they may be of interest to you.
In today’s post, you will learn who Trellis Company is and how they might help you with your student loans if you live in Texas. Also learn how you can use them hand in hand with Brazos student loans if you live in Texas.
Trellis Company: What You Should Know
Trellis Company is a 501(c)(3) non-profit company that helps student borrowers successfully pay back their student loans.
If you are a student or borrower who lives in Texas, you may have known Trellis Company by another name: Texas Guaranteed Student Loans.
As their former name suggests, they mainly help students in the state of Texas with student loan repayment needs.
How Trellis Company Can Help You
Education + Coaching
One of the ways Trellis Company helps you is through education.
The Trellis Student Financial Education Program is offered at no cost to colleges in Texas.
Community-based programs that focus on helping students with accessing higher education resources can also get the folks from Trellis to give educational talks.
The person in charge of coordinating such educational events would simply have to get in touch with Trellis via phone or email to get the ball rolling.
One of the reasons I started this blog was because I encountered so many people struggling with student loans and overall personal finance education.
Most people don’t get proper personal finance education until it is too late.
And so I am all for a company that wants to educate the masses on money and student loans while helping them access the higher education they need to move forward in life.
If your organization is on the fence about this, it is time to get off the fence.
With the average college student graduating with $33,000 in student loan debt, education goes a long way to relieve some of that stress.
For their educational events for colleges and community-based programs, Trellis covers:
- Smart borrowing
- Spending your student loans
- Saving and investing
- How to plan for the workforce
- Monitoring your loan servicers, credit score, and identity so you can avoid scams and theft
Trellis also provides student loan counseling for when you first start college and when you are done with your education.
There is also an education module that covers the parent PLUS loan program.
Trellis also has certified financial coaches who can provide you with student-centered coaching while you are in school and after.
Coaches can help you with:
- Money management: learn spending, budgeting, and developing healthy financial habits.
- Financial aid: learn what your financial aid options are, how much to borrow, how to complete your FAFSA forms, and your options for loan repayment.
- Academic and career support: learn school/work/life balance, career path options, time management skills, and the employment opportunities available for your major.
You can even set it up so you chat with a private coach.
On-Demand Webinars
If you learn better in a private setting and at your own pace, Trellis has on-demand webinars you can watch whenever.
Helping You Repay Your Student Loans
Trellis Company can also help you repay your student loans.
If you received a Federal Direct Loan, the Federal Perkins Loan, or a state loan (in Texas) or a private one, you can use Trellis as a loan manager to help you keep all your payments in one place.
One of the challenges people run into with repaying student loans is the fact that they sometimes cannot find their loan servicers and so they don’t even know where to send their payments.
Trellis eliminates this problem and gives you a “one-stop, pay-it-all” avenue.
Trellis has the myTrellis portal where you can make your payments by card. You could also mail a check directly to them each payment cycle.
Of course, setting up these kinds of payments with Trellis will not happen automatically.
You will still have to make arrangements for your student loans to be held by Trellis.
Here are a few tips to help you do that:
- First things first, if you are a recent graduate, you should find out immediately from your bursar’s/financial aid office whom you need to contact about paying back your student loans. This is especially true if you received a Federal loan that was paid directly to your school. The responsibility is on you to start paying back your loans when they should be paid back or else you will go into default. So find out this information ASAP.
- If you are looking for contact information for loan servicers, this page on the Trellis website is a good place to begin. (Scroll down to “ED Loan Servicers.”)
- If you find out your loan is in default, you can get in touch with Trellis about this. They have a collections department that may be able to arrange for favorable payment terms for your loans.
- If there are extenuating reasons why you are unable to pay your student loans, like the school closing before you completed your degree program or you became incarcerated, you can contact Trellis for advice on how to navigate the situation.
Find All the Forms You Need to Fill Out for Loan Repayment at Trellis Company
A convenience you will find on the Trellis website is a page that contains links to any form you might need to fill out when it comes to paying back your student loans.
You will also find forms for deferring your payments and for forbearance.
Overall Thoughts
If you live in Texas and you would like a “one-stop, pay-it-all” solution for your student loans, Trellis might be a tool that will help you.
They appear to be really committed to educating people on their money which wins them a vote in my book.
You can learn more about working with Trellis Company by visiting their website at https://www.trelliscompany.org.
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