Tracking your loans with The NSLDS
If you are a college student
with Federal Stafford student loans, there is a website you should familiarize
yourself with. I’m talking about The National Student Loan Data System www.nslds.ed.gov. The NSLDS is a
central database operated by the United States Department of Education. It is a
database of student financial aid information. The database receives data from
various sources including the U.S. Department of Education, loan guarantee
agencies, educational institutions and federal financial aid programs. You can
track your federal loans from disbursement through repayment here.
The NSLDS will give you information about your
loans or grants, outstanding balance, and interest rates.
After you bring up the website click on the
first option “Financial Aid Review”. You will then be required to enter
your FSA ID username and password. It’s the same ID used when filing the
FAFSA. The first screen will provide you with a numbered list of
your loans. The numbers are referred to as loan sequence numbers.
Number 1 will represent the latest loan dispersed to your college or loan
consolidation. When you click on one of the loan sequence numbers it will
drill down into the specifics regarding that loan. You will be able to
see important data such as the outstanding loan amount, interest rate and
disbursement date. On the bottom of the same page, NSLDS will provide you
with your servicer and their contact information. Note the example below.
Contact your servicer if you have questions about your loans including
repayment, loan consolidation or deferment options. The servicer is also
the organization you contact if you need to report a change in enrollment
status and contact information.
Jessica Schultz - ICAN Ankeny Center
