Whether you are new to student loan repayment or not, or whether you have just one loan or 10, we know that it can be challenging to keep track of everything. And if the U.S. Department of Education transfers one or more of your federally owned student loans to a new servicer, you may have some questions. If so, we’re here to help make sense of it all.

Sometimes we need to transfer a borrower’s federally owned loan between members of our federal loan servicer team, which changes the servicing assignment for those loans.

We also transfer loans when borrowers sign up for programs, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Today only one of our loan servicers exclusively handles accounts enrolled in the PSLF Program, so those accounts get transferred to that servicer regularly. And sometimes it’s necessary to transfer loans when a servicer’s contract with us ends.

Rest assured; we are working closely with our federal loan servicers to make sure your loan transfer is as seamless as possible. You may need to take a few steps to ensure you get set up properly with your newly assigned loan servicer, but don’t worry. We’ll let you know what action to take, and we’ll be here to support you along the way.

Here are some key pieces of information you need to know if your loans are being transferred to a new servicer:

How will I know when my federally-owned loans have been transferred from one federal loan servicer to another?

When we transfer your federally owned loans from one federal loan servicer to another, you’ll be notified by email or letter (or both). These communications will include an initial notice about the transfer and your new servicer’s name and contact information.

In addition to the communications you’ll receive before your account is transferred, your new federal loan servicer will communicate with you after your loans have been fully loaded to its system. Your post-transfer communication will explain that your federally owned loans have been transferred and that your new servicer will assist you with your account on our behalf going forward.

Finally, your new loan servicer will be identified as the servicer of your federally owned loans in our student loan database. The new servicer reports this information to our database after your transferred loans have been fully loaded to the new servicer’s system. You’ll be able to view the federal loan servicer code and name associated with each loan when you log in at StudentAid.gov.

How long will it take for the new federal loan servicer’s information to be reflected on StudentAid.gov?

Our federal loan servicers report loan information to our database weekly. As a rule, when we transfer your federally owned loans, the new servicer’s information should be available on StudentAid.gov within 7–10 business days after the transferred loans have been fully loaded to the new servicer’s system and that servicer corresponds with you as the borrower.

Most servicer-to-servicer transfers are completed on schedule. However, in some cases, there can be delays in the availability of the information in our database, so it may take longer than the average 7–10 business days.

After the transfer of my loans, will I have to reinitiate actions related to the status of my account, such as reapplying for a deferment or forbearance?

No. Loan status information is included when we transfer your federally owned loans from one federal loan servicer to another. You shouldn’t experience a break or gap in any current status (such as deferment or forbearance) that applies to your federally owned loans because of the transfer. If you are concerned about a break or gap, contact your new servicer for assistance.

After the transfer of my loans, will I have to reinitiate services related to my account, such as access via the web, electronic correspondence, and automatic debit or web payments?

Yes. When we transfer your federally owned loans from one federal loan servicer to another, you will need to contact the new servicer to reinitiate some services related to your account. After the transferred loans have been fully loaded to the new servicer’s system, the new servicer will send you information that explains how to establish account access via the web and sign up for other services (such as web payments, electronic correspondence, and, if necessary, automatic debit). If you have questions about your account services, contact your new servicer for assistance.