Posted Date:January 30, 2009
Author: Jana Hernandes, Service Director, Operations, Federal Student Aid
Subject: Customer Service Information for Borrowers of FFEL Loans Purchased/Serviced by the Department and Borrowers of Direct Loans
As the financial aid community is aware, the Department of Education (the Department) has implemented programs through which it purchases Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans from FFEL loan holders. When these purchases occur, the Department becomes the owner and servicer of the loans. Both the prior FFEL loan holder and the Department correspond with an affected borrower upon purchase of a loan.
In our correspondence to borrowers whose FFEL Program loans have been purchased by the Department, we provide contact information for customer service related to the Department's servicing of these loans. We understand that borrowers may ask others for this contact information and that schools may need our assistance as well. For these reasons, we provide customer service contact information for purchased FFEL Program loans in this announcement.
Customer Service Toll-Free Numbers for FFEL Loans Purchased/Serviced by the Department... | |
For Borrowers | 800/508-1378 |
For Schools | 866/938-4750 |
For Collections | 866/938-4749 |
The Department also services loans that are made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program. The Department provides customer service related to Direct Loan Program loans through a different call center. To reduce the potential for confusion, we also include customer service contact information for Direct Loan Program loans in this announcement.
Customer Service Toll-Free Numbers for Direct Loans Serviced by the Department... | |
For Borrowers | 800/848-0979 |
For Schools | 888/877-7658 |
For Delinquency Management | 800/848-0981 |
We will add customer service contact information for purchased FFEL Program loans to the Service Centers for Students page on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site. Customer service contact information for Direct Loan Program loans is currently available on this page.
We expect to provide schools with additional information on the Department's FFEL Loan Purchase Programs in the near future. Thank you for your assistance in directing borrowers and schools to the appropriate call centers as necessary. We look forward to providing ongoing customer service to both borrowers of purchased FFEL Program loans and borrowers of Direct Loan Program loans.