Graduate and Professional Student Loan Repayment

All students who have borrowed under the Federal Student Loan Programs (Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Stafford Loan, Federal Grad PLUS) must complete an Exit Counseling Session during their final semester at Loyola University New Orleans. The purpose of this session is to make sure that students understand their rights and responsibilities as they enter repayment.

• Grace Period and Repayment counseling for Stafford and Direct Loan borrowers -- This  online counseling session provides information about how to manage your student loans after college, whether your loans are in the grace period (payment will start soon) or already in repayment. The information can be especially beneficial if you are having difficulty repaying your student loans.

Two good general resources are Mapping Yor Future's Deferment Navigator and  Repaying Your Student Loans: A Quick Reference Guide .

Do you have an accurate record of all your federal student loans? As you enter repayment, you should check your records on the National Student Loan Data System.

Make sure to review the information on federal tax benefits  available to borrowers who are repaying their federal student loans.

Special Programs:

• Federal Direct Student Loan Deferment Forms
• Loan forgiveness program for prosecutors and public defenders
  • NEW: Civil Legal Assistance Attorney Student Loan
    Repayment Program
• Cancellation and Deferment Options for Teachers
• Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program

New Federal Programs

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act created several new programs that will benefit borrowers

• The Income Based Rayment Program will become available in July 2009.
  • The Project on Student Loan Debt has unveiled a new web-based resource, IBRinfo.org to help interested borrowers find out more information about this program.
• The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is available to students with Federal Direct Student Loans.(students with loans from other lenders can consolidate their loans into the Direct Loan Program) 
  • Loan Forgiveness for Public Service Employees-this fact sheet was developed by the U.S. Department of Education.
• You can find additional information on these new programs on The Equal Justice Works web site.

Loan Consolidation Programs:

Federal Student Loan Consolidation Programs have been popular in recent years. However, there have been a number of legislative changes enacted that impact the program. We would encourage borrowers to carefully review all information received from lenders before they make any decisions.

• The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) will offer Special Direct Consolidation Loans to eligible borrowers, beginning in January 2012. This is a short-term consolidation opportunity, ending June 30, 2012, for borrowers with

  • at least one student loan held by the Department (a Direct Loan or a Federal Family Education Loan [FFEL] owned by the Department and serviced by one of the Department’s servicers); and
     
  • at least one commercially-held FFEL loan (a FFEL loan that is owned by a FFEL lender and serviced either by that lender or by a servicer contracted by that lender).
     

   

FinAid:The Smart Student Guide to Financial Aid has a series of calculators which will let borrowers estimate their monthy payments under the loan consolidation program versus all other repayment plan options.

Who Will Send You a Bill?

Under provisions of the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act, lenders have the option to "PUT" (sell) loans to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE).  Lenders must notify borrowers if their loans have been sold to the Department of Education. 

We understand that most  lenders have sold their loan portfolios to the Department of Education:

YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CHECK IF YOUR LOAN HAS BEEN SOLD BY CHECKING YOUR RECORDS ON THE NATIONAL STUDENT LOAN DATA SYSTEM FOR STUDENTS

 

 

Contact information for the Department of Education's Loan Servicing Center:

• On the web: www.ed-servicing.com
• By Phone: 1-800-508-1378  or 1-800-835-4611

 Borrower services are available 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday

 Please carefully review all correspondence that you receive from a lender. Several members of Congress are currently investigating lenders who have been accused of deceptive marketing tactics.

Contact information for Department of Education Loans Serviced through other agencies

Click here for contact information for other agencies that service federal student loans.

 

A Cautionary Tale:

•  The Horrors of Defaulting on Educational Debt
• Consequences of Defaulting on a Federal Student Loan
• Learn more about  one family's ordeal  and " Christopher's Law"

 

The Department has contracts with several  companies to service federal student loans, and the Department may change who services your student loans. Unlike other loans such as mortgages, federal student loans are not bought and sold by servicers. The Department transfers the loans to the servicers with whom they have contracts and the servicers conduct the daily activities required during loan repayment .

• Learn more about student loan servicers and what they do.

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Updated April 9, 2013