Due to a 2010 change in federal law, which requires that all new Stafford, PLUS and consolidation loans be made under the Federal Direct Loan Program, you may leave school with a mix of different federal student loans: Direct Loans, which are funded directly by the federal government, and loans issued through the Federal Family Education Loan Program. Private lenders funded FFELP loans. In addition, because the credit crunch prompted many private lenders to sell FFELP loans to the federal government to raise new loan capital, many students may have a mix of FFELP loans that are owned by private lender and FFELP loans that are owned by the federal government. As a result, you may be making student loan payments to several different organizations. Here are some resources to help you manage these different federal student loan types:
Loan information. The National Student Loan Data System, commonly known as NSLDS, displays information about all the federal student loans that you received through U.S. Department of Education programs — as well as federal grants you may have received. To access your loan information on NSLDS, the website will ask you to provide your Social Security number, the first two letters of your last name, your date of birth and the Personal Identification Number — PIN — you received when you filled out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. If you do not have a PIN, you can get one through the U.S. Department of Education PIN website. Note that you cannot get information about private student loans from the NSLDS website; you should contact your lender for this information. Learn more about accessing your student loan information through NSLDS.
Loan consolidation. To help student loan borrowers whose loans are held by several different entities, the federal student loan program provides the opportunity for loan consolidation. Loan consolidation permits you to combine multiple federal student loans in a single new loan. As a result, you may be able to make only one monthly payment to one organization, instead of multiple student loan payments to multiple organizations. Through loan consolidation, you also may benefit from a longer repayment term and a reduced monthly loan payment. For more information, visit the Direct Consolidation Loan website.
Special direct loan consolidation. Until July 1, 2012, the federal government is offering a special opportunity for certain federal student loan borrowers to combine multiple federal student loans with one servicer and benefit from an interest rate reduction of as much as 0.5 percentage points. To qualify, you must be out of school and have a mix of at least one FFELP loan that is owned by a private lender and at least one loan (either FFELP or Direct Loan) owned by the federal government. There is a different application for this special consolidation loan than for the Direct Consolidation Loan option listed above. If you are eligible for this special consolidation option, one of the federal student loan servicers will contact you. For information about additional eligibility requirements and to apply, visit the Department of Education’s Special Direct Consolidation Loans website.
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