Who to Contact If You Can’t Make Student Loan Payments

If you can’t make your student loan payments, contact your loan servicer for federal loans or your lender’s hardship department for private loans, and do it before you miss a payment. That single call opens the door to lower monthly amounts, temporary pauses, and income-based plans that can drop your payment to zero. Waiting until you are already behind narrows your options and, in the case of federal loans, eventually pushes you into default with consequences that are hard to reverse.

Find Out Who Holds Your Loans

You can’t call the right office until you know who that is. Federal and private loans live in different places, so check both.

Federal Loans

Log in at StudentAid.gov with your FSA ID. The dashboard has a “My Loan Servicers” section listing the company assigned to each loan along with contact information.¹ If you can’t get into the site, call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243 for the same information.

As of 2026, the Department of Education uses several servicers for the loans it owns, including Edfinancial, MOHELA, Aidvantage, Nelnet, and ECSI.¹ If your account is already in default, it may sit with the Default Resolution Group instead, reachable at 1-800-621-3115.²

Private Loans

Private loans from banks, credit unions, and online lenders don’t show up in the federal system. Pull your credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion at AnnualCreditReport.com; all three bureaus now offer free weekly reports on a permanent basis.³ Each report lists the lender, account number, and current balance for every open loan. Make one master list before you start dialing.

Before You Call

Have your Social Security number, account numbers, and a rough picture of your monthly income and expenses in front of you. Recent pay stubs, a tax return, and a simple household budget cover most of what any representative will ask for. If your income has dropped or expenses have jumped, be direct about it. Federal servicers are required to walk you through every relief option you may qualify for.

Keep a written log of each call: date, time, the representative’s name, and what was discussed. If your servicer has an online portal, upload documents there so you have a digital record. That paper trail matters if you later have to escalate a dispute or prove you tried to address the debt.

What to Ask a Federal Servicer About

Federal loans come with more built-in relief than private ones. Three programs cover most situations.

Income-Driven Repayment

Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans cap your monthly payment at a percentage of your discretionary income. The main plans currently available are Income-Based Repayment, Pay As You Earn, and Income-Contingent Repayment. After 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments, depending on the plan, any remaining balance is forgiven.⁴ If your income is low enough, the calculated payment can be zero dollars.

The SAVE Plan is no longer accepting new enrollments, and in late 2025 the Department of Education proposed a settlement to end it and move existing borrowers into other plans.⁵ If you were on SAVE or had a pending application, call your servicer to pick a replacement.

Once you enroll in any IDR plan, you have to recertify your income and family size every year. Submit the paperwork between 30 and 90 days before your recertification date, or authorize the Department of Education to pull your tax information from the IRS directly, which can trigger automatic recertification.⁶

Deferment

A deferment pauses required payments. The economic hardship deferment is available for up to 36 cumulative months if you work full-time but earn less than 150 percent of the federal poverty guideline for your family size.⁷ You may also qualify if you receive federal or state public assistance like SNAP or TANF, or if you are serving in the Peace Corps.

On subsidized loans, the government covers interest during a deferment. On unsubsidized loans, interest keeps accruing and can be added to your principal.

Forbearance

Forbearance also pauses or reduces payments, but interest accrues on all loan types. General forbearance is granted at the servicer’s discretion for financial difficulty, medical expenses, or a job change. Mandatory forbearance is required by law in specific situations, such as when your federal loan payment exceeds 20 percent of your gross monthly income, or during a medical or dental residency. Forbearance is typically granted in 12-month increments. Because interest always builds, treat it as a last resort after IDR and deferment.

What to Ask a Private Lender About

Private lenders don’t have to offer the same relief as the federal government, but most will work with you to avoid default. Call the customer service number on your billing statement and ask for the hardship or loss mitigation department. Those teams can modify payment terms that general representatives can’t.⁸

Come prepared with a simple written budget, pay stubs, bank statements, and recent bills. Private lenders will usually ask for these when reviewing a hardship request.⁸ Common options include temporarily reduced payments, an extended term, or a short forbearance. Get any agreement in writing, and follow up a few days later to confirm the paperwork was received and the account reflects the new terms.

If You’re Already in Default

Federal student loans enter default after roughly 270 days of missed payments.⁹ Private loans can default sooner, often after 90 to 120 days, depending on the contract. Default triggers wage garnishment, tax refund offsets, added collection costs, and lasting credit damage, so getting out of it should be the priority.

For federal loans, call the Default Resolution Group at 1-800-621-3115.² Two paths restore your account.¹⁰ Rehabilitation requires nine on-time monthly payments within a 10-consecutive-month period, with each payment arriving within 20 days of the due date; the amount is typically based on your income.¹¹ Its advantage is that the default notation comes off your credit history when the process is complete, and you can only rehabilitate a given loan once.

Consolidation rolls your defaulted loans into a new Direct Consolidation Loan, which takes you out of default immediately. It’s faster than rehabilitation, but it does not remove the default from your credit report, and accumulated interest and collection costs get folded into the new balance.¹⁰ Either path restores your eligibility for IDR plans and federal aid.

If Your Servicer or Lender Won’t Help

Federal Student Aid Ombudsman

If repeated contact with your servicer fails to fix a billing error, misapplied payment, or other dispute, the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group acts as a neutral mediator. Federal law requires the Department of Education to appoint an ombudsman to review borrower complaints and try to resolve them informally.¹² The office describes itself as a “final resource” after you’ve already gone through your servicer’s normal channels.¹³

File a case online through the dispute resolution form at StudentAid.gov, or by mail to the FSA Ombudsman Group at P.O. Box 1854, Monticello, KY 42633.¹³ Before you file, put together a timeline of every interaction with your servicer, including dates, representative names, and copies of any letters or emails.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

For disputes with either a federal servicer or a private lender, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at consumerfinance.gov or by calling (855) 411-2372.¹⁴ The company generally has 15 days to respond, though some cases take up to 60 days.¹⁵ The complaint creates an official record the company must address, which is especially useful with unresponsive private lenders.

Nonprofit Credit Counselors

If the number of loans and options feels like too much to sort through alone, a nonprofit credit counseling agency can help. Many employ counselors certified through the National Foundation for Credit Counseling who review your full financial picture and map out a repayment strategy.¹⁶ Look for agencies with IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and a free or low-cost initial consultation.

A counselor typically starts with a phone interview covering your total debt, income, and expenses. They can explain which federal plans you qualify for, whether deferment or forbearance makes sense, and how to approach private lenders. They don’t represent any lender, so the read on your options is objective.

Bankruptcy as a Last Resort

Discharging student loans in bankruptcy has historically been very difficult, requiring proof that repayment would cause “undue hardship.” The Department of Justice updated its process in 2025 to make this more workable. Under the current guidance, a borrower files an attestation form addressing three questions: whether you currently lack the ability to repay, whether that inability is likely to continue, and whether you have made good-faith efforts to repay in the past.¹⁷ If all three are met, the DOJ may agree to discharge without a contested trial.

This still requires filing a bankruptcy case and a separate adversary proceeding inside it, which means court filing fees and, in most cases, an attorney. If you’re considering this route, consult a bankruptcy lawyer familiar with the updated DOJ guidance.

1
Federal Student Aid. Who’s My Student Loan Servicer?
2
Federal Student Aid. How to Contact the Default Resolution Group
3
Federal Trade Commission. Free Credit Reports
4
Federal Student Aid. Federal Student Loan Repayment Plans
5
Federal Student Aid. IDR Plan Court Actions – Impact on Borrowers
6
Federal Student Aid. Top FAQs About Income-Driven Repayment Plans
7
Federal Student Aid. Economic Hardship Deferment Request
8
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Options for Repaying Your Private Education Loan
9
Congressional Research Service. The Potential Increase in Federal Student Loan Defaults in Fall 2025
10
Federal Student Aid. Getting Out of Default
11
Federal Student Aid. Loan Rehabilitation – Income and Expense Information
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 USC 1018 – Performance-Based Organization for Delivery of Federal Student Financial Assistance
13
Help Center – FSA Partner Connect. Office of the Ombudsman FSA
14
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Where Can I File a Financial Aid or Student Loan Complaint?
15
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Learn How the Complaint Process Works
16
National Foundation for Credit Counseling. How Do I Become a Credit Counselor?
17
U.S. Bankruptcy Court. A New Era for Student Loans in Bankruptcy – New Rules, Real Solutions