On April 30, 2014, Sallie Mae spun off its loan servicing operation and most of its loan portfolio into a separate, publicly traded entity called Navient Corporation. Navient is the largest servicer of federal student loans and acts as a collector on behalf of the Department of Education.
Contents
- 1 Are Navient and Sallie Mae the same?
- 2 What year did Sallie Mae become Navient?
- 3 Can I transfer my Sallie Mae loans to Navient?
- 4 Who took over Navient?
- 5 Who bought out Navient student loans?
- 6 Are Navient and nelnet the same?
- 7 Is Navient owned by the Department of Education?
- 8 Is Navient going out of business?
- 9 How can I get out of a Sallie Mae loan?
- 10 Is Sallie Mae federal or private?
- 11 Can you lower your Sallie Mae payments?
- 12 Why did Navient quit?
- 13 Is nelnet still servicing federal student loans?
- 14 Who are the new student loan servicers?
Navient is a U.S. corporation based in Wilmington, Delaware, whose operations include servicing and collecting student loans. Managing nearly $300 billion in student loans for more than 12 million debtors, the company was formed in 2014 by the split of Sallie Mae into two distinct entities: Sallie Mae Bank and Navient.
Sallie Mae launched Navient in 2014 in order to stay involved with federal loan servicing. Under a separate business entity, Navient could assume Sallie Mae’s role and service both federal and private student loans.
Sallie Mae also doesn’t offer private student loan refinancing. However, keep in mind that if you had federal student loans with Sallie Mae that are now serviced by Navient, you still have the option of consolidating through a federal Direct Consolidation Loan.
It’s official: Navient is out of the federal student loan servicing game, effective immediately. The U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday approved the company’s proposal to transfer loan servicing of 5.6 million Education Department–owned student loan accounts to Maximus, a federal contracting company.
“Navient and Maximus announced today that the companies have signed a definitive agreement to transfer the loan servicing for U.S. Department of Education-owned student loan accounts from Navient to Maximus through a contract novation, subject to the Department’s approval,” said the company in a statement.
Federal student loan servicers, such as Nelnet and Navient Corp., are companies that collect payments, respond to customer service inquiries and perform other administrative tasks on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education.
An Easy Way to Identify ED-HELD Loans To tell if a loan is owned by the U.S. Department of Education, follow these steps: Login to StudentAid.gov.
Navient is leaving the business while under fire from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which sued it in 2017, claiming that the company had made it difficult for borrowers to repay their loans. But Navient was already set to end its federal loan services at the end of the year.
How can I get out of a Sallie Mae loan?
Sallie Mae and other private student loans can’t be forgiven. In fact, there are actually no official student loan forgiveness programs for any private student loan company. Federal student loan borrowers can use the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or Teacher Loan Forgiveness programs to wipe away their debt.
Is Sallie Mae federal or private?
All new Sallie Mae loans are private. But if you took out a Sallie Mae loan before 2014, it might have been a federal loan and is likely now serviced by Navient. Sallie Mae started off under the federal government and provided loans through the Federal Family Education Loan program, or FFEL.
Can you lower your Sallie Mae payments?
Luckily, Sallie Mae offers deferments, meaning you can reduce or postpone your payments if you’re returning to college, going to graduate school or entering an internship or residency. You can receive a deferment for up to 48 months.
One primary reason for Navient exiting federal student loan servicing is to avoid the spotlight of regulatory oversight. Navient will continue to service private student loans, which still makes Navient susceptible to regulatory oversight in the normal course from federal and state governments.
Is nelnet still servicing federal student loans?
Currently, Nelnet is under contract with the Department of Education through December 2021. After December 2021, Nelnet’s contract is unlikely to be renewed and its borrower portfolio will be transferred to another loan servicer.
Who are the new student loan servicers?
Six loan servicing companies – Great Lakes, HESC/Edfinancial, MOHELA, Navient, Nelnet, and OSLA Servicing – will be held to these higher standards starting early next year.