Student Loans and Servicers

What is a Student Loan?

A student loan (also known as an education loan) is a financial aid option that allows you to borrow money from either the federal government, private organizations, or higher education institutions to help you pay for college and higher education-related expenses.  Educating yourself about student loans can help to ensure that you make responsible and effective borrowing decisions about funding your education and may also help you to limit the total amount of debt you may have upon leaving college.

Please review our Student Loan Repayment Guide for an in-depth breakdown of helpful information for anyone seeking more information on student loans.

Student loan repayment is handled by third-party companies called servicers.  The CT Department of Banking regulates Student Loan Servicers who do business in Connecticut.

What is a Student Loan Servicer?

A Student Loan Servicer is a company or organization that is assigned to assist student borrowers with the billing and other services of student loans.  The company "services" the loan by receiving the scheduled payments from a student loan borrower pursuant to the terms of the loan and applying the payments to a student education loan.  Servicers can also assist students with functions like:

• Tracking loans while borrowers are in school.
• Helping borrowers choose or switch repayment options such as loan consolidation or repayment options other than the default Standard Repayment Option.
• Processing requests for deferment or forbearance.
• Helping to determine if you qualify for loan forgiveness.

Identifying your servicer

Federal Loans

To determine the servicer of your Federal Loans:

• Visit your Federal Student Aid (FSA) account dashboard and scroll down to the “My Loan Servicers” section (You will need your FSA User ID and Password) 
• Call the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) at (800) 433-3243 or
• Visit Federal Student Aid (FSA) for the most current federal loan servicers.

Private Loans

If you have a private loan, contact your loan lender to determine who your loan servicer is.

Servicers Licensed in Connecticut

Private Student Loan Servicers are required to be licensed with the Department of Banking to do business in Connecticut.  You may determine if your Student Loan Servicer is licensed by visiting Student Loan Servicers Licensed in Connecticut.

Federal Student Loan Servicers are required to be registered with the State of Connecticut.