You've graduated (or maybe you are just taking off a semester or two) and your lender/servicer has started sending you notices that you will soon have to start making payments on your student loans.

What are your options?

If you want to start paying you can go right ahead and send in your check or money order, but what if you are short of money and can't meet your payment obligations?

You should remember (from the information provided to you when you took out your loans) that there are many alternative payment arrangements available to assist you in repaying your student loans should you find yourself in a situation where making full and timely payments becomes a burden.

Repayment Options: If the payments are too big for you to manage you may want to look into the repayment options your lender/servicer has for you. You will find that they have payment programs to fit just about everyone's budget. Many offer  extended, graduated, interest-only and/or income sensitive payment plans.

Deferment / Forbearance: If you can’t keep up with the payments due to your economic situation (or if you are delinquent) you should request postponement of payments from your lender. All lenders have various deferment / forbearance options. In many cases you may file on-line for postponement of payment!

Loan Consolidation: If you have a large number of loans (especially if you attended several different schools) and you’re having a hard time keeping track of them (or making the monthly payments) you may want to consider loan consolidation. During these changing economic times most FFEL lenders have suspended their loan consolidation programs. If your lender is one of these you have the option to complete a United States Department of Education Federal Direct Consolidation Loan.

Whatever your situation your lender/servicer wants to assist you in repaying your student loans. There is no reason for you to be concerned about how you are going to keep up with your payments (or for you to fall behind in payment) when you are being offered so many opportunities to modify your payment schedule to meet your financial situation.

But you have to take the first step.

Access the appropriate lender/servicer web site(s) from the links provided below and explore your options.

Your Loan History (NSLDS)

If you are not sure which lender/servicer is holding your loans, or if you just want to review your loan history, please visit our Your Loan History (NSLDS) web page.

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Special Direct Consolidation Loans

The U.S. Department of Education (U.S.D.E.) will offer Special Direct Consolidation Loans to eligible borrowers, beginning January 17, 2012. This is a short-term consolidation opportunity, ending June 30, 2012 for borrowers who have at least one loan (either Direct or FFEL that is being serviced by the U.S.D.E.) and at least one FFEL loan serviced by the original lender or servicer. "Special Direct Consolidation Loans are intended to help borrowers manage their debt by ensuring all of their federal loans are serviced by the same entity, resulting in one bill and one payment (borrowers repay loans to a loan servicer). Borrowers will also receive an interest rate reduction on Special Direct Consolidation Loans as a repayment incentive."

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If you have a student loan in DEFAULT . . .

you can find out what options are available by clicking on this link to the U.S. Department of Education's Guide for Defaulted Borrowers. This resource provides comprehensive student loan default information developed by the U.S D.E. Clicking on various tabs within that publication will give you information about how to remove your loan from default, what to do if you have a dispute about your loan's default status, and how to get answers to questions you might have.

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Important information for students whose loans may have been sold by their FFEL lenders to the U.S. Department of Education

On May 7, 2008, the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act (ECASLA) was signed into law, creating the “PUT” Program. This legislation authorized the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) to purchase federal student loans from FFEL lenders in order to help ensure on-going liquidity and availability of funds for student loans. The purpose of the program was to provide FFEL lenders with the means to continue offering student loans to students.

Some FFEL lenders who had funded loans to CSU students chose to take advantage of the “PUT” program. Some may have sold all, or just some, loans they had with individual students to the USDE. If any of your loans were sold you should have been notified by both your FFEL lender and the USDE.

If you have any questions regarding the loan(s) that has been transferred, please contact:

Department of Education Student
Loan Servicing Center
PO Box 7063
Utica, NY 13504-7063
Phone number: 800.508.1378
Fax number: 866.938.4751 or 315.223.3855
Web site: www.ed-servicing.com
Hours of Operation: 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. ET, Monday–Friday

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Direct Loan Borrowers (Stafford and PLUS)

Beginning with the Summer of 2010 the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, commonly known as “Direct Loans” or “DL”, became the exclusive lender for Federal Stafford, Parent PLUS and Graduate PLUS loans at Chicago State University. The Direct Loan Program has contracted with eight companies (more may be added on the future) to service loans obtained through the Direct Loan Program. They are ACS, FedLoan Servicing (PHEAA), Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., Nelnet, and Sallie Mae.

The USDE's National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) provides information on your federal loans (parent's too if he/she borrowed a PLUS loan) including loan types, disbursed amounts, outstanding principal and interest, and the total amount of all your loans. To access NSLDS, go to www.nslds.ed.gov.

If you're not sure who your loan servicer is, you can look it up on www.nslds.ed.gov or call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243; TTY 1-800-730-8913). To see a list of Federal Student Aid servicers for the Direct Loan Program and for FFEL Program Loans purchased by the USDE, go to the USDE's Loan Servicer page.

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If you had FFEL loans borrowed prior to the Fall 2010 semester, and know who your lender(s) is/are and you are ready to proceed, we have provided a listing below of lenders, with links to their web sites, that most students have used while attending CSU over the past ten years. If your lender is not listed, or you are not able access its web site, please call our office at 773-995-2304 for assistance.

Bank of America

If your loans are serviced by Great Lakes

If your loans are serviced by IDAPP

If your loans are serviced by Sallie Mae

 

Charter One

If your loans are serviced by Nelnet

If your loans are serviced by Sallie Mae

 

Chase

If your loans are serviced by Chase

If your loans are serviced by IDAPP

If your loans are serviced by Sallie Mae

 

Citibank

 

Commerce Bank

 

Discover

 

Edamerica (Ed Financial Services)

 

National Education

If your lender is/was: Bank of Boston,

Corus Bank, Fleet Bank or National Education

 

Sallie Mae

If your lender is/was: Bank One, Harris Bank, Independence Bank, LaSalle Bank,

Sallie Mae Education Trust, Seaway Bank and Trust (formerly Seaway National Bank),

South Shore Bank, TCF or Wilmington Trust

 

Wachovia

 

Wells Fargo

 

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Office of the Ombudsman

Assistance is available to you from the United States Department of Education in the event that you experience a problem or a dispute with a lender/servicer/guarantor of an existing student loan.

 

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You may need      to download some of the forms/documents on this web site.