To get all the important details you need on What Is Your Student Loan Balance? Here’s How You Find Out, 5 ways to pay off student loans faster, Finding your best strategy for managing your student loans and lots more All you have to do is to please keep on reading this post from college learners. Always ensure you come back for all the latest information that you need with zero stress.
There are many ways to find out how much you owe in student loans. You can go to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), which is maintained by the U.S. Department of Education. NSLDS will allow you to view all of your federal loans, as well as private loans that you have taken out. You can also use this site to track your loan payments and balance, as well as see what types of repayment options are available to you.
You can also look at your credit report to see how much money you owe on student loans, but this may not be accurate if there was a mistake made during the process of applying for these loans or if any payments were not reported correctly by the lender or collection agency handling them on behalf of the government.
You may want to consider talking with a financial advisor about consolidating all of your debts into one manageable payment plan instead of trying to pay them off individually at different times throughout each month or year when possible; this way everything will be paid off faster because there won’t be any interest added onto what’s already owed each month from those individual accounts being paid individually over time instead of together in one big lump sum at once when possible
What Is Your Student Loan Balance? Here’s How You Find Out
Many students borrow multiple student loans to pay for college, both federal and private. As a result, sometimes it’s tough to answer the question: “How much do I owe in student loans?”
But it’s important to find out how much you owe in student loans so you can come up with a plan to manage your debt. If you’re not sure where to start, here are some tips for tracking down your student loan balance.
- Learning how much you owe in student loans
- 5 ways to pay off student loans faster
appears to be an empty link with target #finding - Finding your best strategy for managing your student loans
Finding your best strategy for managing your student loans
Navigating the student loan system is complex and sometimes confusing. But now that you know where to find out your student loan balance, it should be a little easier.
Not only can you use the resources listed above to find out how much you owe on your student loans, but you can also learn details about your interest rate, monthly payment, repayment term and loan servicer.
After gathering all this important information, shift your focus to coming up with a strategy for repayment. A good place to start is with these student loan payment calculators. By crunching the numbers, you can come up with a plan for conquering your debt, and you might even find a way to pay it off ahead of schedule.
Kat Tretina and Paula Pant contributed to this article.
Interested in refinancing student loans?
Here are the top 9 lenders of 2022!
How Student Loan Hero Gets Paid Advertiser Disclosure
LENDER | VARIABLE APR | ELIGIBLE DEGREES | |
---|---|---|---|
1.74% – 9.51%1 | Undergrad & Graduate | VISIT SPLASH | |
1.89% – 5.90%2 | Undergrad & Graduate | VISIT LAUREL ROAD | |
2.05% – 5.25%3 | Undergrad & Graduate | VISIT LENDKEY | |
1.74% – 7.99%4 | Undergrad & Graduate | VISIT NAVIREFI | |
1.74% – 7.99%5 | Undergrad & Graduate | VISIT SOFI | |
1.74% – 7.99%6 | Undergrad & Graduate | VISIT EARNEST | |
1.86% – 6.01% | Undergrad & Graduate | VISIT ELFI | |
1.74% – 7.99%7 | Undergrad & Graduate | VISIT PUREFY | |
1.99% – 8.38%8 | Undergrad & Graduate |
Learning how much you owe in student loans
What you originally borrowed to pay for school is likely not what you owe now. Unfortunately, you probably owe more.
Unless you have federal subsidized loans or made in-school payments, your balances grew over the years due to interest. Depending on your rate, you could end up owing hundreds or even thousands of dollars more after graduation than what you originally borrowed.
To find out what you owe with the accrued interest, try out some of the following tools for tracking your federal and private student loans.
How to find the balance on your federal student loans
Figuring out how much you owe in federal loans is relatively easy. The Federal Student Aid website, which is managed by the Department of Education, shows you how much you owe in federal student loans. Your Federal Student Aid dashboard will show your loan’s original amount, current student loan balance, interest and payment status.
It also tells you who your loan servicer is now. Servicers sometimes transfer loans to other companies, so it’s possible to end up with a different servicer than the one you had when you took out the loan. Note that if you already know your loan servicer, you can also contact them to find out how much you owe on your student loan.
To access your account, you need a Federal Student Aid ID. Once you log in, your account will list your loans and loan servicers. It’s a good idea to identify your loan servicers and then follow up with those servicers directly to find out the current balance on your loans.
How to find the balance on your private student loans
Retrieving balances on private loans is a little trickier than finding information on federal loans. There’s no national website for private student loans like there is for federal loans. Also, the financial institution that originally issued the loan might outsource the loan servicing elsewhere or sell your loans to a different entity.
However, there are other ways to find your private loan balances:
- Ask your original lender (if your loan has changed servicers): Your original lender is always the best place to begin this search. Hopefully, you’ve kept your original loan documents with the lender’s contact information. One phone call should help you find your student loan balance and current servicer.
- Ask your school for help: If you’re having trouble tracking down your loans, talk to your university’s financial aid office. They can help you identify who currently manages your debt.
- Check your credit report: Credit reports list all of your current and past credit obligations, including student loans. It will list the amount you borrowed and the loan servicer, which you can then contact to find the status of your account or to make payments. You can get a free credit report from the three main credit reporting agencies — Experian, TransUnion and Equifax — by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com.
By doing a little detective work, you should be able to find out how much you owe on your private student loans and where to send your monthly payments.
5 ways to pay off student loans faster
Once you find out how much you owe in student loans, you can come up with a strategy to pay them off. Depending on your finances, you might be able to accelerate repayment and save money by doing one or more of the following:
- Use windfalls to pay down debt: If your budget is tight and there isn’t much left over for extra payments, you can still repay your loans more quickly by taking advantage of any windfalls. If you receive a raise, bonus, tax refund or a check for your birthday, use that money to make a lump sum payment on your loan balance. Those extra payments can add up and help you eliminate your loans ahead of schedule.
- Pick up a side hustle: For those who need more breathing room in their budget, launching a side hustle can be a great way to earn extra money for debt repayment during your spare time.
- Check with your employer for loan assistance: Some employers offer student loan repayment assistance as part of their benefits package. Ask your human resources department if your company has that perk.
- Set up automatic payments: Setting up autopay can help prevent missed payments, and it also can reduce how much you pay in interest. Some lenders offer a 0.25% discount on your interest rate if you sign up for automatic payments.
- Consider refinancing: If you have high-interest loans, refinancing your student debt may help you lower your interest rate and save money. You’ll lose out on some loan benefits if you refinance federal debt, but doing so can ensure more of your money goes toward paying down the principal rather than interest charges.
If you’re a student loan borrower, you’ve probably heard the phrase “how much do I owe?” at least once. And if you’ve been searching for an answer to this burning question, we’re here to help.
We hope that this guide has helped you get a better idea of how much you actually owe in student loans. However, if you have questions or concerns about your current situation, feel free to reach out to us. Our eager team will be more than happy to help!