How To Manage Your Edfinancial Services Student Loans

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Edfinancial Services is a federal loan servicer that helps borrowers manage the repayment of their education debt.

If you have Edfinancial student loans, here’s how to use the servicer’s online platform and find out about alternative repayment plans.

Edfinancial Services: the basics Edfinancial Services online platform Edfinancial Services repayment options Alternative payment plans for Edfinancial student loans Edfinancial Services customer reviews Edfinancial student loan consolidation and refinancing Edfinancial Services: the basics

Loan servicers are an important part of managing your loans. Your loan servicer is not the lender; instead, the servicer is who you make payments to and who you go to with questions about your repayment plan or your account.

Edfinancial Services is one of 10 companies that services federal student loans, as of October 2020. The servicer was one of two holdovers awarded a new government contract in June 2020 as the Department of Education slowly ushers in a group of new federal loan servicers.

Whether you like it or not, you don’t get to choose Edfinancial Services or any other federal loan servicer. Instead, the Department of Education selects one for you.

Added to the list of designated federal loan servicers in 2012, Edfinancial Services manages student loans within the direct loan program, including:

Direct unsubsidized loans Direct subsidized loans Direct PLUS loans Direct consolidation loans

Edfinancial student loans also include debt lent through the defunct Federal Family Education Loan program and some private lenders.

Edfinancial Services online platform

Most students manage Edfinancial student loans online through edfinancial.com.

To sign up for an account, click on “Register” at the top right of the screen. The site will prompt you to enter your name, birthdate and Social Security number before asking you to create a username and password.

By registering for an account, you can:

Find out your loans’ balances and interest rates Receive bills Make payments online

The site has additional resources for borrowers on their website, including a blog with information about repayment options and loan forgiveness.

Edfinancial Services repayment options

If you’re ready to start making payments on Edfinancial student loans, you can do so in the following ways:

Online: You can make one-time online payments once you register for an account. Automatic payments: Some borrowers might be able to get a 0.25 percentage point discount on your interest rate discount on their loans by signing up for automatic monthly payments. Phone: You can make payments over the phone by calling 866-709-0202. Mail: To mail payments for your direct loan, send a check to: U.S. Department of Education, P.O. Box 4830, Portland, OR 97208. Alternative payment plans for Edfinancial student loans

If you cannot afford your federal direct loan payments or are going through a financial hardship, Edfinancial Services may be able to help you with an alternative payment plan, such as:

Income-driven repayment (IDR): Under an IDR plan, the government caps your monthly payment at a percentage of your discretionary income. Depending on your income and family size, your payment could dramatically decrease. Forbearance or deferment: If you’ve lost your job, are facing a medical emergency or cannot afford your payments, you might be able to postpone making payments for up to 12 months without entering into default. Student loan forgiveness: If you work for a qualifying nonprofit or government organization, you could be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Under this program, the government forgives your remaining loan balance after you make 10 years of qualifying payments. There’s also Teacher Loan Forgiveness, which gives up to $17,500 for five years of eligible service. Student loan discharge: In some cases, the government might discharge your loans if there are extenuating circumstances. For example, if you become disabled, you might be eligible for Total and Permanent Disability Discharge. Edfinancial Services customer reviews

Federal loan servicers are under intense scrutiny due to concerns about how they handle borrower issues and payments.

For its part, Edfinancial Services was absent from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau student loan ombudsman’s 2019 annual report. With that said, 113 borrowers filed complaints about Edfinancial student loans between October 2017 and October 2020.

To protect yourself against similar problems, it’s important to ensure your account information is up to date with your latest mailing address and phone number.

If you have to contact Edfinancial Services, record the date, time and name of the representative you speak with to record any issues or problems and their resolutions.

If you can’t resolve problems directly with Edfinancial, rely on the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman.

Edfinancial student loan consolidation and refinancing

If you’re unhappy with Edfinancial Services or any other federal loan servicer, you can switch to a different servicer by opting for a direct consolidation loan. You could also ditch your loan servicer for a private lender by refinancing your federal loans.

When you refinance, you take out a new loan with a private company and use it to pay off your old Edfinancial student loans. The new loan will have different repayment terms, including interest rate and minimum monthly payment. You’ll have an entirely different loan servicer and customer service team.

Before moving ahead, make sure you understand the benefits and drawbacks of refinancing. You’ll lose out on federal loan benefits, such as income-driven repayment plans, for example. Some people, however, find it worthwhile to get a new servicer.

If you’ve decided this route is right for you, check out our list of the best lenders for refinancing.

Andrew Pentis contributed to this report.

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