Tips from the Financial Aid Office

• Keep track of your educational loan debt throughout your enrollment. Your federal educational loan balances are accessible on the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) website. The NSLDS summary does not include private (alternative) educational loan debt.
• Always notify your lender or loan servicing agency if you have a change in address and/or a name change.  If you fail to notify them of these changes, you could run risk of missing a monthly payment and be deemed deliquent or even default on your student loan(s).
  
• Default occurs on the 270th day of nonpayment.  Defaulting on a student loan could have the following effects on your financial health:
  • Reported to a credit bureau or collection agency
  • Prevented from receiving future financial aid
  • Prevented from obtaining academic transcripts
  • Loss of all loan deferment provisions
  • Inability to secure credit for the purchase of a home or car
  • Wages garnished and tax refunds withheld
    
• If you are experiencing economic hardship while you are in repayment; deferments and forbearances are ways to postpone payments until you are again able to make your regular payments.  Please note that interest continues to accrue while you are in a deferment or a forbearance.
  

Other resources to help navigate through student loan repayment options include:

• Department of Education's Learn the Basics and Manage Your Debt publication
• Equal Justice Works' Public Service Loan Forgiveness information
• Project on Student Debt's IBR Info website
• The "Smart Student Guide" information for borrowers experiencing financial difficulties