Federal Direct Loan Servicer FAQ

The Federal Department of Education has assigned your Federal Direct Loan to an agency that is responsible for receiving your loan payments when you graduate or stop attending school at least half-time.

You may be contacted shortly after your loan is credited to your Macalester student account, before the loan repayment period has begun. This contact does not necessarily mean that you are required to begin making loan payments. The servicing agency (also known as a “servicer”) is simply contacting you to make you aware of the relationship you now have with them.

Federal Direct Loans are borrowed from the U. S. Department of Education. You may identify the agency that is assigned to collect your loan by accessing the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) or call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-4354. All your federal student loans are reported to this system. Some of your servicer’s contact information is also in this system.

The Department of Education maintains a list of federal loan servicers.

Your loan servicer will contact you with both the amount and the date they expect your first payment. Generally, if you graduate in May your first payment will be due in November. If you have not been contacted by your servicer you are still responsible to make your payment. Check NSLDS.ed.gov and contact your servicer as you may need to update the contact information they have for you.

Your servicer’s web site will provide instructions on how to make loan payments and set up automatic payments.

Yes. There are no penalties for early repayment. You may reduce the overall cost of your loan by making payments before the repayment period begins.

Yes. If you have not selected a repayment plan the default option is Standard Repayment. Contact your servicer to discuss other repayment plans available to you. A description of repayment plans is available on the Department of Education web site.

Your loan servicer is expecting your payment. If there is a reason you are not planning to make a payment you need to contact your servicer. All servicer websites include information on how to apply for in-school deferments or forbearances. Your loans will not be automatically deferred.

No, Macalester will not share your new contact information with your loan servicer.