Figuring out who has your student loans can be a major headache and challenge. Over the life of a student loan, it's not uncommon for it to be transferred several times between servicers. By the time you're actually ready to pay 4 or 5 years after taking out your first student loan, you may not even know where your student loan is located.
And this can be a major problem! For federal student loans, you have a 6-month deferment period before you're required to start making payments. If you're not contacted by your student loan servicer, they most likely don't have your new address. But that doesn't mean they aren't going to charge you interest and fees for student loans you're not paying. That's going to kill your credit score (and you should care)!
As a result, you need to make an effort to track down your student loans after you graduate!
If you're not quite sure where to start or what to do, consider hiring a CFA 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.
Start Here: MyAid
The first thing that you need to do after you graduate is head over to the StudentAid.gov. This is a great resource that is maintained by the US Department of Education that tracks who services your student loans and the balance of your loans. Given how much can change with your student loans while you're in school, this can be really helpful to track everything down.
To access your information, you simply need to provide your name, Social Security number, birthday, and a pin number. It will then show a list of your student loan debt that has been registered with the Department of Education (which includes all federal student loans and some private student loans).
When you're in the Student Aid portal, you want to look for the "MyAid" tab, which will show you all of your loans and loan servicers.
Once you know who your student loan servicer is, you need to contact them, especially if you are nearing the end of your deferment period and haven't received a statement or any other information.
Contact Your Student Loan Servicer
Here is the name, address, and contact info for the Federally approved student loan servicers. If you're loan is at one of these companies, this is the information you need. Also, read our reviews on the ones that we've encountered here at The College Investor.
If you're looking for a student loan debt collector, check out this list: The Complete List Of Student Loan Debt Collectors
Ascendium
Phone number: (800) 236-2700
Hours of operation: 7-6 Mon-Thurs and 7-4:30 on Fri (CST)
General mailing address:
Ascendium Education Group
2501 International Lane
Madison, WI 53704
Email/online contact form: RS@ascendiumeducation.org
Read more about Ascendium Student Loans here.
Aspire Resources Inc.
Phone number: (800) 243-7552
Hours of operation: 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. CST Mon– Fri
General mailing address:
Aspire Servicing Center
P.O. Box 659705
West Des Moines, IA 50265-0970
Address for sending payments:
Aspire Servicing Center
P.O. Box 659701
West Des Moines, IA 50265-0970
Email/online contact form: Contact form
Read more about Aspire Loan Servicing here.
CornerStone
Phone number: (800) 663-1662 or (844) 255-8326 for servicemembers
Hours of operation: 6-7 Mon-Thurs and 6-5 on Fri (MT)
General mailing address:
CornerStone Education Loan Services
P.O. Box 145122
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-5122
Address for sending payments:
U.S. Department of Education
CornerStone
PO Box 979133
St. Louis, MO 63197-9000
Email/online contact form:
General email address: customerservice@mycornerstoneloan.org
Email address for servicemembers: Servicemembers@mycornerstoneloan.org
Read about some of the problems people have had with CornerStone Student Loan Servicing.
ESA/EdFinancial
Phone number: (800) 337-6884
Hours of operation: 8-8:30 p.m. Mon-Thu and 8-6 on Fri. (EST)
General mailing address:
Direct Loans:
Edfinancial Services
P.O. Box 36008
Knoxville, TN 37930-6008
FFelp or Private Loans:
Edfinancial Services
P.O.Box 36014
Knoxville, TN 37930-6014
Address for sending payments:
Direct Loans:
US Department of Education
P.O.Box 4830
Portland, OR 97208-4830
FFelp or Private Loans:
Edfinancial Services
Department 888055
Knoxville, TN 37995-8055
Email/online contact form: Contact form
If you're curious, make sure you read about the Problems With ESA or EdFinancial Loan Servicing.
FedLoan Servicing (PHEAA)
Phone number: (800) 699-2908
Hours of operation: 8-9. Mon-Fri (EST)
General mailing address:
FedLoan Servicing
P.O. Box 69184
Harrisburg, PA 17106-9184
Address for sending payments:
Department of Education
FedLoan Servicing
P.O. Box 790234
St. Louis, MO 63179-0234
Email/online contact form: Must sign in to your account before you can send an email to customer service.
Don't forget to read my battle with FedLoan Servicing and why I think it's the worst student loan servicing company.
F.H. Cann
Phone number: (877) 677-9126
Hours of operation: 8-5. Mon-Fri (EST)
General mailing address:
1600 Osgood Street
Suite 2-120
North Andover, MA 01845
Email/online contact form: EDinfo@fhcann.com
You can also read more about F.H. Cann here.
Granite State (GSMR)
Phone number: (888) 556-0022
Hours of operation: 8-6. Mon-Fri (EST)
General mailing address:
Account numbers beginning with F8:
Granite State Management & Resources
P.O. Box 3420
Concord, NH 03302-3420
*Do not mail payments to this address.
Account numbers beginning with C7:
Granite State Management & Resources
P.O. Box 2097
Concord, NH 03302-2097
Address for sending payments:
Account numbers beginning with F8:
Department of Education
P.O. Box 4414
Portland, OR 97208-4414
Account numbers beginning with with C7:
Granite State Management & Resources
P.O. Box 9560
Manchester, NH 03108-9560
Email/online contact form: Online contact available through Facebook or Twitter only.
Check out this article about Problems With Granite State (GSMR) Student Loan Servicing
Great Lakes Educational Loan Services Inc.
Phone number: (800) 236-4300
Hours of operation: 7-9. Mon-Fri (CST)
General mailing address:
Great Lakes
PO Box 7860
Madison, WI 53707-7860
Email/online contact form: Contact form
Make sure you read this article: Problems with Great Lakes Loan Servicing
Maximus Federal Services Inc.
Phone number: (800) 621-3115
Hours of operation: 8-5. Mon-Fri (ET)
General mailing address:
U.S. Department of Education
PO Box 5609
Greenville, TX 75403-5609
Email/online contact form: Contact form
Read our full guide here: Maximus Federal Services Contact Information.
MOHELA
Phone number: (888) 866-4352
Hours of operation: 7– 9 Mon–Thu and 7–5 on Fri (CST)
General mailing address:
MOHELA
633 Spirit Drive
Chesterfield, MO 63005-1243
Email/online contact form: Contact form provided after you enter your state on this page.
Don't forget to read this article about Problems With MOHELA Loan Servicing
Navient
Phone number: (800) 722-1300
Hours of operation: 8-9. Mon-Thurs and 8-8 on Fri (ET)
General mailing address:
Navient – U.S. Department of Education Loan Servicing
P.O. Box 9635
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18773-9635
Address for sending payments:
Navient – U.S. Department of Education Loan Servicing
P.O. Box 4450
Portland, OR 97208-4450
Email/online contact form: Must sign in to your account before you can send an email to customer service.
If you've seen the news, you'll find this article interesting: How To Deal With Navient Lawsuits And Loan Servicing Problems
Nelnet
Phone number: (888) 486-4722
Hours of operation: 8-10. Mon-Fri (EST)
General mailing address:
Nelnet
P.O. Box 82561
Lincoln, NE 68501-2561
California residents:
Nelnet
P.O. Box 82578
Lincoln, NE 68501-2578
Address for sending payments:
For accounts beginning with "E":
U.S. Department of Education
P.O. Box 2837
Portland, OR 97208-2837
For accounts beginning with "D":
Nelnet
P.O. Box 2970
Omaha, NE 68103-2970
For accounts beginning with "J":
Nelnet
P.O. Box 2877
Omaha, NE 68103-2877
Email/online contact form: Contact form
Make sure that you check out NelNet Student Loan Servicing Problems.
OSLA Servicing
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
If you're having problems with OSLA Loan Servicing, read this.
Sallie Mae
Phone number: 800-472-5543
Hours of operation: 9-6. Mon-Fri (ET)
General mailing address:
Sallie Mae
P.O. Box 3319
Wilmington DE 19804-4319
Address for sending payments:
Sallie Mae
P.O. Box 8459
Philadelphia PA 19101-8459
Email/online contact form: N/A
Read about Sallie Mae Student Loans here.
Trellis Corporation
Also known as Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation.
Phone number: (800) 252-9743 or (512) 219-5700
Hours of operation: 8-5, Mon–Thur (CT)
General mailing address:
Trellis Company
301 Sundance Parkway
Round Rock, TX 78681
Address for sending payments:
Trellis Collections
P.O. Box 659602
San Antonio, TX, 78265-9602
Email/online contact form: trellishelps@trelliscompany.org
Read about Trellis Student Loans here.
VSAC Federal Loans
Phone number: 800-642-3177
Hours of operation: 8-4:30 p.m Mon-Fri (ET)
General mailing address:
VSAC
PO Box 999
Winooski, VT 05404
Address for sending payments:
VSAC
PO Box 7501
Bennington, VT 05201-7501
Email/online contact form: info@vsac.org
Read about some of the most common VSAC student loan servicing problems.
How To Complain About Your Federal Loan Servicer
If your federal loan servicer's customer service department mishandles your payments or refuses to fix a problem in a timely manner, you have the right to file a complaint with various state and federal agencies.
First, you can share your problems with the Department of Education via the Federal Student Aid Feedback system. And if you need additional assistance, you can contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), your state's consumer protection office, or your state attorney general's office.
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.