What is FedLoan Servicing?
For most borrowers, the journey of managing federal student loans begins with FedLoanServicing, among the largest federal loan servicers and the driving force behind the Department of Education’s FedLoan program. Educating themselves on how FedLoanServicing operates can help borrowers keep their loans payments under control, remain out of default, and have a chance to qualify for really helpful forgiveness programs like the PSLF.
This complete guide covers everything you possibly need to know about FedLoanServicing—what it is, how it works and tips for managing the loan successfully.
What Is FedLoanServicing?
FedLoanServicing was created by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) to service federal student loans. Far more than a debt collector or loan servicer, it operates under the FedLoan umbrella of the U.S. federal student aid system and manages loan accounts, processes payments, tracks borrowers’ activity and navigates students through complicated repayment and forgiveness programs.
In recent years, FedLoanServicing became the servicer of many of the borrowers that had enrolled in PSLF and income-driven repayment plans, and millions with federal loans have relied on the platform for help.
Important Features of FedLoanServicing
Here are some important services provided under the Fed Loan system:
- Loan Management Tools: Borrowers can view their loan balance, due dates and payment history through the website.
- Repayment Plan Enrollment: Eligibility for adjusted income-driven repayment plans (IBR, PAYE, REPAYE).
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF): Specialized servicing for borrowers who work in public service jobs and want PSLF.
- Loan Consolidation — Help with federal loan consolidation.
- Auto-Debit Enrollment: Prevents borrowers from missing payments by automatically withdrawing money each month.
Setting Up a FedLoanServicing Account
To manage your loans with FedLoan, first, you need to create an online account:
- Go directly to the official FedLoanServicing site.
- Click on “Create an Account.”
- Enter your full name, Social Security Number, date of birth, and email address.
- Username and password should be unique
- Your data will be available in your dashboard.
Once you register, you’ll be able to check loan balances, apply for a repayment plan and upload key documents.
Understanding Your Loan Types
FedLoanServicing serves a variety of federal student loans, including:
- Direct Subsidized Loans
- Direct Unsubsidized Loans
- Direct PLUS Loans (for parents and grads)
- Direct Consolidation Loans
Knowing what type of loans you have is important, as it impacts your eligibility for certain repayment or forgiveness programs.
Getting to Repayment Options Through fedloan Servicing
Flexible repayment: This is one of the strong suits of FedLoan. FedLoanServicing offers borrowers a number of repayment plans to choose from:
Standard Repayment Plan
- Fixed payments over 10 years.
- Best for borrowers looking to pay off their debt in a hurry.
Graduated Repayment Plan
- Payments are low and increase every two years.
- Well suited for borrowers anticipating increased income down the line.
IDR Plans (Income-Driven Repayment Plans)
- Income-sensitive payments, which depends on amount and size of family.
- IBR, PAYE, REPAYE, and ICR are included.
- Can potentially forgive remaining balance of your loan after 20-25 years of qualifying payments.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) & FedLoanServicing
FedLoanServicing is the official PSLF servicer. To qualify, borrowers must:
- Work full time for a qualifying employer (government or nonprofit).
- Make 120 qualifying payments under an income-driven plan.
- Complete the PSLF Employment Certification Form once a year or whenever you change employers.
FedLoan monitors these payments and confirms employment to make sure borrowers remain on course for forgiveness.
Note: Even if you don’t work with FedLoanServicing right now, if you submit the PSLF form, your loans may be transferred to them.
Contacting fedloan Servicing
Borrowers can reach FedLoanServicing in several ways:
- Phone: 1-800-699-2908
- Mail: P.O. Box 69184, Harrisburg, PA 17106-9184
- Online Messaging: Through your FedLoan account dashboard
That helps on their customer service, which is Monday to Friday. Try calling as early in the day as possible to avoid long wait times.
Moving Away from fedloan Servicing
In late 2022 and early 2023, the U.S. Department of Education started shifting servicing responsibilities away from FedLoanServicing. Borrowers that previously used FedLoan have had their accounts transferred to other servicers, including:
- MOHELA (particularly for PSLF borrowers)
- Aidvantage
- Nelnet
- Edfinancial
Your new servicer should inform you if your loans were transferred, and your loan terms will not change.
fedloan Frequent Pitfalls and Advice for Borrowers
Borrowers for years have described problems like delayed processing, errors in PSLF payments and trouble finding timely help. Here are a few ways to reduce those problems:
- Documentation: Always keep copies of correspondence, payment receipts, and any forms you submit.
- Always Submit PSLF Forms Once Per Year: This is the most efficient way to keep your information current and tracked.
- Set Up Auto-Debit: Avoid missed payments and keep making steady progress toward forgiveness.
- Keep on top of it: Visit the Federal Student Aid (studentaid. gov) for updates on servicer transition or policy changes.
fedloan Servicing and the Future of Federal Loan Servicing
Though FedLoanServicing won’t be accepting new accounts, it still plays an important role in the history of the federal loan system. Lessons learned during FedLoan’s servicing—especially related to complex programs like PSLF and IDR—still benefit borrowers whose loans were serviced by the company.
With new servicers such as MOHELA taking over, it is even more important than ever for borrowers to keep informed, proactive, and involved with their loan accounts.
fedloan Conclusion
FedLoanServicing,(which operated under the FedLoan program) -based organization was a critical player in servicing millions of federal student loan accounts and facilitating essential programs, such as PSLF. Even as its servicing function is winding down, learning how it worked — and what it provided — can help borrowers be prepared as when transitioning to new servicers.
It can be overwhelming to manage your student loans, but with the proper tools, guidance and insight regarding your servicer, you can remain on the path toward repayment or forgiveness.
