Student Loan Servicer

What Is a Student Loan Servicer?

A student loan servicer is a company that manages student loan accounts on behalf of a lender or the U.S. Department of Education. Servicers handle billing, payment processing, customer support, and repayment plan management for borrowers.

Borrowers typically interact with their loan servicer after their loan funds have been disbursed.

Why It Matters

Student loan servicers play a key role in managing repayment and helping borrowers understand their options. Servicers provide information about repayment plans, deferment, forbearance, and loan forgiveness programs.

Knowing your loan servicer helps ensure payments are made correctly and that borrowers receive accurate information about their loans.

How Student Loan Servicers Work

After a federal student loan is issued, the Department of Education assigns the loan to a servicer.

The servicer is responsible for:

sending monthly billing statements
processing loan payments
assisting with repayment plans
managing deferment or forbearance requests

Borrowers can contact their servicer for help managing their loan account.

Example

After graduating from college, Rachel begins repaying her federal student loans. She receives monthly billing statements from her loan servicer and contacts them to enroll in an income-driven repayment plan.