LOAN REPAYMENT 

Federal Direct Loans Repayment

Once you graduate school or drop below half-time enrollment, you will enter your grace period before you need to start repaying your loan. The U.S. Department of Education requires you complete Loan Exit Counseling in order for you to receive more information about repaying your loans.  

After COVID-19 payment pause ended, repayment has restarted on October 2023.

BE AWARE OF SCAMMERS

Official emails to borrowers come from noreply@studentaid.gov, noreply@debtrelief.studentaid.gov, and ed.gov@public.govdelivery.com or from your Department of Education assigned loan servicer. 

Exit Counseling Information

If you are graduating soon or dropping below half-time enrollment, you must complete Federal Direct Loan Exit Counseling: 

• Go to studentloans.gov 
• Click on the "Sign In" button
• Log in with your StudentAid.Gov Account
• Click on "Complete Loan Counseling (Entrance, Financial Awareness, Exit)"
• Click on the start button for "Exit Counseling (Required)" 
• The site will walk you through the remaining steps 

How to Repay Federal Student Loans 

When it comes time to start repaying your loan, you must contact your loan servicer, follow their instructions to create an account on their website, and select a repayment plan that's right for your financial situation.   

Standard, Graduated, and Extended Repayment Plans: These are more structured and have set monthly payments. See an official list of Fixed Payment Repayment Plans. 

Income-Driven Repayment Plans: These are tailored according to your income and family size. See an official list of Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plans. 

You can compare which plan fits your needs by using the Federal Student Aid Loan Simulator tool. 

Loan Consolidation

A Direct Consolidation Loan allows you to combine one or more federal education loans into a new Direct Consolidation Loan for the purpose of lowering your monthly payment amount or gaining access to federal forgiveness programs. 

Other Loans: 

Federal Perkins Repayment Plans: These are federal loans, but the repayment process differs from that of the Direct Loan Program or FFEL Program Loans. Check with our Utah State University Bursar’s office for more information on Perkins Loan Repayment plans.  

Private Educational Loans Repayment: Each private lender has their own requirements and most match federal loan servicers. Please visit our Private Loan page, and contact your private loan servicer for more information. 

Difficulty Making Payments

If you are currently facing difficulty making payments on your loans, please make sure to stay in contact with your loan servicer and explore options for deferment or forbearance, which may postpone payments if you qualify. 

PSLF & TEACH

If you're in the process of obtaining certification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or submitting service obligation and employment certification for the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH), please be aware that federal systems will be paused for updates from May 1st until the fall of 2024. For further details and how to submit forms during the pause, visit PSLF & TEACH Updates Scheduled by Federal Student Aid.

Delinquency

If you’ve missed a payment or are having trouble making payments, immediately contact and discuss options with the organization that handles billing and other services for your loan to avoid defaulting on your loan. 

• For the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program or the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, contact your loan servicer. 

• For the Federal Perkins Loan Program, contact the school where you received the loan for details. At Utah State University, please contact our Bursar’s office. If our school informs you that your Perkins Loan has been assigned to the U.S. Department of Education, contact the ECSI Federal Perkins Loan Servicer. 

If you don’t know who your loan servicer is, call the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) at 1-800-433-3243. 

Defaulted Loans

If your loan continues to be delinquent, the loan may go into default. The point when a loan is considered to be in default varies depending on the type of loan you received. 

For a Federal Direct Loan, you’re considered to be in default if you don’t make your scheduled student loan payments for at least 270 days. 

For a private loan or a loan made under the Federal Perkins Loan Program, the holder of the loan may declare the loan to be in default if you don’t make your scheduled payment by the due date.  

Defaulting on a loan can have severe consequences, affecting both your ability to borrow and your financial stability. The key consequences can include: 

• Immediate Repayment: The entire outstanding balance and accrued interest become due immediately, known as "acceleration." 
• Loss of Benefits: Deferment, forbearance, and other benefits like choosing a repayment plan are no longer available. 
• Ineligibility for Federal Student Aid: You lose eligibility for additional federal student aid. 
• Credit Damage: Default is reported to credit bureaus, damaging your credit score and impacting your ability to make major purchases. 
• Limitations on Assets: Purchasing or selling assets, such as real estate, may become challenging. 
• Financial Setbacks: Tax refunds and federal benefit payments can be withheld for loan repayment. 
• Wage Garnishment: Your wages may be garnished, with a portion withheld to repay the defaulted loan.  

The Department of Education launched a program called Fresh Start to help students get out of default, and the program is available ONLY until September 2024. 

Don’t get discouraged if you’re in default on your federal student loan.  

You have multiple options to get out of default. 

Our Student Financial Support team at Utah State University cares for each student and we are available to help you in all stages of the loan repayment process. As part of our Default Management Prevention Program, we will contact you if you are in delinquency or dangerously getting close to defaulting on your loans.   

You can also contact us anytime at defaultprevention@usu.edu. We are also available and ready to help you: 

• If you need help understanding the loan repayment process steps, please set an appointment with your Federal Aid Counselor.  
• Current USU students can meet with a Financial Coach to identify ways to increase, reduce spending, make a budget, and better understand debt management by setting up an appointment with our Student Money Management Center. 

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Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group 

If you have a complaint about your federal student aid, contact the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group as a last resort.

The Ombudsman Group is dedicated to helping resolve complaints related to the federal student aid programs, including Direct Loans, Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans, Perkins Loans, and grant programs.