Student loan help

​Most people whose debt was canceled through the settlement received a postcard alerting them they were part of the class action lawsuit and that their loans had been canceled. If Navient serviced your federal loans as of 2017, you entered repayment before 2015, and you spent time in forbearance – or if Navient serviced your defaulted private loan and you attended certain for-profit schools – you may be eligible. There is no application. There is both federal restitution and private loan cancelation available. If you believe you are in either category, visit commonly asked questions at navientagsettlement.com.​​

Payments are due in October 2023. You will likely receive a bill in the mail from your servicer in September that outlines how much you owe and to whom. To learn more, visit Prepare for Student Loan Payments to Restart.

You should receive an email or letter from your servicer by mid-September 2023. To ensure that you receive one, visit studentaid.gov to verify that your contact information is up to date. Your servicer's information is also available on your Federal Student Aid profile.

All you need is the employer identification number (EIN), which can be found on your W-2 form or paystub. Enter the EIN in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Employer Search tool to get either an “eligible" or “ineligible" result. Eligibility for PSLF is based on your employer and your full-time status, not your position.​

The Department of Education is offering a program called Fresh Start, which pulls your student loans back into current status and allows you to continue paying them. Fresh Start also restores eligibility to apply for new student loans and removes the default from your credit report. The process is relatively simple, and can be completed by calling 800-621-3115. You will need to know last year's income, so check your W-2 or tax return before calling. For more information, visit Get Out of Default With Fresh Start.

Log in to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Help Tool with your Federal Student Aid ID, and the tool will walk you through the process.

To find out your total loan balance and what your expected monthly payments will be starting in October 2023, log in to studentaid.gov or to your loan servicer's portal. If you do not have internet access, or do not know who your loan servicer is, call the Federal Student Aid Center at 800-433-3243 for more information about your loan status.

Federal student loans and private student loans can look very similar. Sometimes they are even serviced by the same company. The best way to find out if your loans are federal is by logging in to StudentAid.gov.​ If your loan does not show up there, or if you do not have a Federal Student Aid ID, then your loan is private. Private student loans do not qualify for repayment and discharge programs such as income-driven repayment or Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Several income-driven repayment (IDR) plans are available to borrowers with Direct Federal loans, Grad Plus loans, and consolidated Direct loans that did not repay any Parent Plus loans. FFEL, Parent Plus, and Direct consolidation loans that did repay a Parent Plus loan are not eligible for most of the IDR plans. The most affordable payment plan currently available is the SAVE plan. Extended repayment is another plan that is available to most borrowers. The standard repayment plan is usually the fastest way to repay student debt.

Many federal student loan types offer the ability to consolidate them into a new federal loan. Refinancing federal loans with a private company is a separate process, and is rarely a good deal as it forfeits many of the benefits of a federal loan​. To learn more about consolidation, visit https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/consolidation.​

There are forgiveness options available based on characteristics, including the school the borrower attended, whether the borrower has a disability and is unable to work, and what type of work the borrower does.  Most of the available options for forgiveness require an application, which can be completed only by signing in to studentaid.gov. There is no charge to apply for loan forgiveness or any repayment plan.

​While, in most cases, no credit is required to take out student loans; payments toward student debt, both on time and late, are reported to all three credit bureaus monthly. If loans are rehabilitated from a previous default, the default – but not the late payment history – should be removed from your credit report. If you believe your servicer misreported something, please contact them for help. If you are not able to contact them, please file a complaint with the student loan ombuds.

Neither your servicer nor the U.S. Department of Education will reach out through text or phone call. All contact from the department as well as your servicer will arrive in writing – either email or post. If someone contacts you and requests personal information, hang up and log in to studentaid.gov or call 800-433-3243.

Income-driven repayment plans – including $0 monthly payment options as well as forbearance – are generally available for all federal loans. Log in to ​studentaid.gov to learn more and apply. Private loans have few to none of these options available. Call your servicer if you think you might miss a payment.

In addition to studentaid.gov, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has trustworthy and thorough information on student loan repayment. Find advice for your student loans at consumerfinance.gov. Complaints against servicers can be submitted through the CFPB's complaint page, Federal Student Aid, or directly through the Division of Financial Regulation. For additional support regarding your specific loan situation, consider visiting a student loan counselor at a community based organization such as DevNW.

There are two options for getting back on track with federal student loans – rehabilitation or consolidation. Consolidation gets rid of the old loan and creates a completely new loan with the same terms as the previous one. This is the best path if you are in a rush to get back on track. Neither the default nor late-payment history is removed from your credit history when you consolidate into a new loan. Rehabilitation is a process where the collection agency or servicer collects auto-debited payments (usually $5 per month) for 10 months. After those 10 months, your loan returns to current status (the late payment history remains), and you can resume payments as though you had never defaulted. This is the better option if you are trying to retain the loans and/or servicer you already had or to get the default removed from your credit report. To learn more about these options and apply for one, log on to https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/default/get-out.​

​You should never have to pay for the benefits that already come with federal student loans. Anyone who is trying to charge you to consolidate, rehabilitate, get on an income-driven repayment plan, or apply for forgiveness, is likely taking advantage of you. The U.S. Department of Education will not call you about your loans, so a call claiming to be from them is a scam. Anything that directs you to a site other than  studentaid.gov​ could be a scam. If you need additional support in navigating the student loan process, reach out to a nonprofit student loan counselor such as those at​ DevNW​​​​