<p>How do i go about making payments on our daughters unsubsidized stafford loans? They just started their freshman year and we'd like to make payments towards this loan so the interest doesnt accrue. Thanks</p>
<p>You will need to make the payments through your daughter’s loan servicer. To find out who the servicer is, your daughter can log in to the website NSLDS.ed.gov using her FAFSA PIN. She then will be able to click on each individual loan to see who the servicer is (i.e. Great Lakes, Navient). The servicer’s contact information will be listed as well. You then are able to make an account at the servicer’s website to make your payments online. You also can contact the servicer by phone to pay as well. </p>
<p>However, I believe the NSLDS website may not be updated until about 90 days into the school year. You can always call Direct Loans at 800-848-0979 to get specific loan information regarding the payoff amounts. </p>
<p>Thank you! :)</p>
<p>Do you know if the interest payments are accrued monthly or quarterly @kgos16</p>
<p>I believe interest is daily, but since it is simple interest, it doesn’t matter. You can pay monthly or quarterly, and the amount will be the same.</p>
<p>@sunflowermom : @twoinaanddone is correct. The interest accrues on a simple daily basis. Here is a helpful link I direct students to when trying to calculate the interest accruing: <a href=“https://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/SaEcTour.do?page=SaEcRyl2”>https://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/SaEcTour.do?page=SaEcRyl2</a></p>
<p>If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, there is an equation to help you calculate the interest. Add in your daughter’s loan amounts and you will be able to see how much interest calculates in a given month. There is more helpful information on this site as well. This is a section of the loan exit counseling your daugther will be required to complete when she finishes school.</p>
<p>Same situation here - but I rcvd emails from the servicer for son’s Stafford loan (Sallie Mae) and my Parent Plus loan and have begun paying a small amount on each loan monthly to minimize what the balances will be after graduation. One odd thing was that just a few days after getting the email from Sallie Mae and setting up the online account, I was notified that the servicing was changing to Navient in October. Seems a bit inefficient.</p>
<p>^^^Very common for loan to be sold (transferred) shortly after the loan is made. Sometimes you don’t notice it because the servicing stays with the same lender, but when servicing is also sold, you notice.</p>
<p>Good idea to do that if you could. While interest was lower, we were able to apply some to principal freshman and sophomore year, so he had over 1000 paid on loan besides the interest when he graduated. With my daughters, I tried to keep up on interest and they paid some when they worked. Really does make a difference.</p>
<p>@rockvillemom Sallie Mae actually has split into two separate brances. Sallie Mae will continue to manage private student loans, and Navient is the name of the section that services federal Direct/Plus loans. So, its essentially the same company with the same staff - just trying to differentiate between the loan services they provide. </p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying. I have several student loan servicers to keep track of between my two sons - so I’m trying to keep very accurate records of which loan is where.</p>
<p>@rockvillemom I hear you on that one. It can be such a pain when one student has to work with multiple lenders for one loan disbursement. </p>