The COVID-19 student loan relief program has seen its share of extensions. The most recent one is set to May 1, 2022 — just a few months away, at the time of writing.
Federal student loan borrowers have benefited from the multiple suspensions of loan payments. However, as the country’s economy begins to pick up, lenders and loan servicers are collecting on student loans.
This means that you need to take steps to prepare for student loan payments again. Follow these steps for when your student loan payment starts.
1. Get in Touch With Your Loan Servicer
With student loan payments restarting soon, you will need to stay in contact with your loan servicer. There may have been important updates to the terms of student loan repayments — especially after a long payment hiatus.
Performing this step will also allow you to change certain account details you have on your account. In particular, you’ll want to update your contact information and other information like your income if there have been changes to it.
Consult With Your School's Financial Aid Office
Another alternative is to contact your school's financial aid office if you have federal loans that do not appear on the NSLDS. The staff can dig up information about your previous loans, such as how much you borrowed and who was in charge of servicing it. Using that information, you can get in touch with the servicer to obtain the current loan balance.
2. Determine the Amount You Need Pay
Besides finding out how much you’ll have to pay once student loan payments restart, you also need to find out when you have to pay.
How to Check Your Federal Student Loan Balance
You may check your student loan balance in a few different ways if you took out a loan from the US Department of Education.
Visit the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)
Your federal student loan balances can be found under the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) in your My Federal Student Aid account, which you can view at any time. This is the main database for student aid maintained by the United States Department of Education, and it tracks all your federal student loans.
To access the site, you'll need your Federal Student Aid ID username and password. The NSLDS is extremely helpful because it provides a comprehensive view of your federal loans all at once, allowing you to see how much federal debt you owe straight away. It does not, however, contain any information regarding your private student loans.
Consult With Your School's Financial Aid Office
Another alternative is to contact your school's financial aid office if you have federal loans that do not appear on the NSLDS. The staff can dig up information about your previous loans, such as how much you borrowed and who was in charge of servicing it. Using that information, you can get in touch with the servicer to obtain the current loan balance.
How to Check Your Private Student Loan Balance
Finding information on private student loan balances is a little more complex than federal loans. Private student loans do not have a nationwide website like federal student loans do. Additionally, the financial institution that initially granted the loan may outsource loan servicing or sell your debt to a third party. There are, however, additional options for determining the balance of your private student loan.
If Your Loan Has Switched Servicers, Ask Your Original Lender
Beginning your search for your loan balance with your initial lender is always a good idea. With any luck, you haven't lost your original loan papers, which include the lender's contact details. You should be able to find your current servicer and student loan balance with only one phone call.
Request Assistance From Your School
If you're experiencing difficulties finding your private student loan balance, contact the financial aid office at your university. They can assist you with determining who is now in charge of your debt.
3. Update Your Repayment Plan
You may have had different circumstances when you selected your repayment plan in the past. Between that time and now, your circumstances may have changed. Whatever the changes in your circumstances are, you need to update your repayment plan to suit your current situation.
4. Consider Ways To Lower Your Future Monthly Payment
There are two possible ways to pay less. If you are already paying via an IDR (income-driven repayment plan), you can apply for a repayment reduction at StudentAid.gov. The application you will be filing out is for an IDR recertification. Recertification allows you to lower payments by updating your income and contact information.
The other way to reduce monthly payments is with loan consolidation. Loan consolidations enable you to combine your federal loans into one loan. This is especially useful if you have other loans to pay besides your student loan. The reduction comes from having to pay just one interest rate instead of several.
Consult your loan servicer for more information on loan consolidation.
5. Arrange for Temporary Relief If Necessary
If you anticipate ineligibility, or you feel that you will still be unable to make student loan payments, you may consider a loan relief. Loan reliefs are temporary “loan breaks.”
Getting relief comes with pros and cons and will affect other forbearance or deferment programs you already have. Hence, you need to consult your loan servicer before making this decision.
Look Over Your Credit Report
All your current and previous credit commitments, including student loans, are listed on your credit reports. Your credit report will show the amount you borrowed as well as the loan servicer you can contact to inquire about your account's status.
You should be able to determine how much your private student loan balance is and where you should send your monthly payments with a bit of research.
While it may seem complicated, learning how to find how much you owe in student loans is an essential first step in managing your debt. Ways to go about it differ if you have a federal student loan or a private one. However, once you have determined your student loan balance and who your loan servicers are, you can arrange a repayment plan that suits your needs.
