My D is a sophomore and just transferred schools between semesters. We had no idea this would trigger this involved exit counseling for her federal loans. She did that and noted she transferred to another school rather than withdrew from college altogether. But she still had to go through this whole thing about estimating her future income and listing references.
But I don’t think it ever asked what school she was transferring to (we are not taking out loans there). Is there anything else we have to do? I have this uneasy feeling this is triggering a repayment process, which is clearly premature.
Also, we have never heard who is servicing loans. This seems like a stupid question, but on the StudentLoans.gov site we can see what has been disbursed in the disclosure statement, but no information on where to make payments. She has an unsubsidized loan I’d like to pay back. Where do we find that info?
The first school told her about required exit counseling because that is a regulation they must follow when a student leaves school. If she is already in school, she did not need to complete the counseling. It is not triggering the repayment process - her loans will be automatically placed in in-school deferment based on the new school reporting her enrollment. However, since she does not have loans at the new school, I strongly suggest you make sure her loans are in deferment every semester.
Go to www.nsdls.ed.gov to find out who is servicing her loans. You can click on each loan to see the details - all should have the same servicer unless she has a Perkins loan. Have her set up an online account with the servicer. Then have her get into the habit of making sure her loan shows in her account as being in in-school deferment each semester. If not, she can have her school complete a deferment form, which she will submit to the servicer.
Perkins will have a different servicer - and if she does have a Perkins loan, have her make sure they have put her loan in in-school deferment. I work in financial aid, and I have run across more than a few students whose Perkins loans have not been properly placed in deferment when they are in a new school (Perkins loans are a federal loan that goes through the school, rather than Direct Loans, so it can get overlooked).
@kelsmom Thanks for your reply, but the website address you cite, www.nsdls.ed.gov, doesn’t work. Is there an alternative address? What should I be Googling to find this? She does not have a Perkins loan.