GREENSBORO, N.C. — September first. It's not just the end of August. It's not just the end of summer. It's the end of the student loan payment pause.
That's right, student loans begin accruing interest as of today and your first payment is due sometime in October.
"If you haven't heard from your loan servicer already, you need to log into the servicer website and make sure they have your up-to-date contact information. Everything from snail mail, email, phone, owl, however, you get your info, make sure your servicer has that up-to-date information," said Betsy Mayotte, TISLA, The Institute of Student Loan Advisors.
Any questions you have about your federal student loan can be answered by StudentAid.gov, it is the one website where you can find out who your loan service company is, what your payment amount is, and what the due date is.
"It's an excellent resource, not only will they tell you what your federal loans are, where they are, and what status they're in, but there's all kinds of information. There's a great calculator that can help you figure out what payment plan to choose," said Mayotte.
She says 17 million loans were transferred to different services in the last three years during the pause, so it's not uncommon for you to have a different company than you had before.
If you're waiting for the company to contact you and you it's all their responsibility, you're wrong. Not getting a bill is not a defense for missing a payment. It's your loan and it's your responsibility to know when payments are now due.
Don't let a scammer tell you differently, you never have to pay to get information about your loan. The free government site that has all the information is StudentAid.gov.