Last Updated on July 29, 2023
How do I pay my student loans online?
You can pay your student loans directly on the website of the organization that is currently servicing your loan. You can find this information by logging into StudentLoans.gov and clicking “Manage Your Loans.” Then, select the loan you’d like to make a payment on, and click “Make a Payment.”
You’ll be taken to a page where you can select which loan you’d like to make a payment on, as well as how much you’d like to pay and what date you’d like to make the payment by. Once you’ve selected these details, simply click “Submit.”
How Do I Pay My Student Loans Online
It’s simple to pay toward your student loan—at any time. Get started by working with your federal loan servicer.
Where to Send Payments
Your student loan servicer handles all billing regarding your student loan. Your servicer can work with you if you need help to make a payment.
Make a Payment to Great Lakes and Nelnet
We are now accepting payments for federally-owned student loans serviced by Great Lakes or Nelnet!* Visit your account dashboard to find out.
Make a Payment to Great Lakes or Nelnet
*If we aren’t able to accept your payment due to your account status, or if you prefer to pay on your servicer’s website, log in to your Great Lakes or Nelnet account.
Make a Payment to Other Loan Servicers
Direct Loans and Federal Family Education Loan Program loans owned by the U.S. Department of Education (ED)
student loan payments suspended
Payments are currently suspended, without interest, for most federal student loan borrowers through Aug. 31, 2022. This policy does not apply to private student loans.
Borrowers can still make payments to lower their debt during this period of suspended payments, called a forbearance. According to the latest federal data, a total of 500,000 borrowers (about 1.16% of all 42.9 million federal loan borrowers) continued making payments during the pause. Contact your servicer if you have further questions.
Make no mistake: This is a pause on payments, not forgiveness. Your debt will be waiting for you when repayment begins at the end of the forbearance, unless the policy changes again. While the Biden administration has said it plans to push for expedited $10,000 forgiveness for all federal borrowers, few observers believe such a bill could be moved through Congress quickly.
Until then, here’s how to decide what to do next.
If you want to pause payments
You don’t have to do anything to get a forbearance to stop student loan payments. Interest won’t continue to accrue, as it normally would.
A forbearance could give you breathing room to address other financial concerns.
If you are jobless or working reduced hours, a forbearance may free up cash to pay the rent and utilities or grocery bills. Even if your pay is unaffected, a forbearance could help you divert some money toward building an emergency fund or help you pay another, more pressing debt.
Usually forbearance is granted at the discretion of the servicer and interest will continue to build. In this case, the Education Department instructed all servicers to automatically place all loans into a forbearance without interest.
If you’re behind on your student loan payments (or get behind)
Federal loans with delinquent payments or defaulted loans will return to “good standing” status when payments start again on Sept. 1, 2022.
Default on federal loans happens when a payment is 270 days past due, sending your loan to collections and exposing you to damaged credit, garnished wages and seized tax refunds.
All collection activities are suspended through Aug. 31, 2022. You can get a refund for any forced student loan payments made since March 13, 2020. If your tax refund was seized before March 13, 2020, it will not be returned.
If your loans were already in forbearance, any interest that already accrued will still be added to your loan principal when your repayment begins, but during the current waiver no new interest will be calculated.
