Navient is the third-largest federal student loan servicer in the U.S., after FedLoan Servicing (also known as PHEAA) and Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc. In October 2014, Sallie Mae spun off its federal loan servicing business into Navient. Federal loans previously managed by Sallie Mae are now managed by Navient.
Today, Sallie Mae only lends private student loans, and Navient manages loans for the federal government and private lenders other than Sallie Mae. If Navient is your federal loan servicer, it processes your payments, helps you enroll in repayment plans and answers questions about your loans. Navient also collects outstanding consumer debt through its collections services.
Quick facts
- 7 million : Number of borrowers served
- $187 billion : Amount of loans in Navient’s portfolio
- (800) 722-1300 : Phone number, staffed Monday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET, and Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET
How to make a payment
Online
The easiest way to make payments and keep track of your loans is to create an account on Navient’s online customer portal. Enter your Social Security number, date of birth and email to verify your identity, and create a username and password. Once you’re logged in, go to “Make Payment” on the top navigation bar, then choose “Manage Payments and Bills.” Click “Enroll in Online Billing” and you’ll receive a monthly email to remind you to pay your bill online.
You’ll be even more likely to stay on top of your loans, though, if you sign up for automatic monthly payments, called “automatic debit.” Enroll by logging into your account on Navient.com and selecting “Make Payment” on the top navigation bar, then choose “Automatic debit.”
Enter your bank account information, including your account number and routing number, and Navient will automatically deduct your scheduled payment from your bank account each month. You may also receive an interest rate reduction of 0.25% on each of your federal loans when you choose automatic debit.
There are two other ways to make student loan payments to Navient.
By mail
The address you should send a check to will depend on the type of loan you’re repaying.
If you have a federal Direct Loan or one made under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) owned by the U.S. Department of Education, send a check made out to “Navient” to:
Navient – U.S. Department of Education Loan Servicing
P.O. Box 740351
Atlanta, GA 30374-0351
If you have a FFELP loan lent to you by a private bank and serviced by Navient, send a check made out to “Navient” to:
Navient
P.O. Box 9533
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18773-9533
Along with your check, be sure to enclose your remittance slip, the tear-off sheet at the bottom of your billing statement. Otherwise, Navient may not apply your payment to the correct student loan account.
By phone
The number you call also will depend on the type of loan you’re repaying. Have your Social Security number or account number ready when you make a payment by phone.
Call (800) 722-1300 if you have a federal Direct Loan or a FFELP loan owned by the U.S. Department of Education.
Call (888) 272-5543 if you have a FFELP loan lent to you by a private bank and serviced by Navient.
Tips from Navient
- Keep making payments until Navient approves your request to enroll in automatic debit. If you stop paying your bill before automatic debit goes into effect, your loans could be considered delinquent.
- Ask Navient to ungroup your loans if you want to pay them off one by one, rather than through their default billing groups.
How Navient applies payments to loans
If you have more than one loan serviced by Navient, the company may bundle your similar loans together and charge you a total monthly amount for that billing group. For each loan, federal regulations require Navient to apply loan payments to late fees first, then to outstanding interest and, finally, to the principal balance, or the original amount of the loan disbursed. Learn how Navient applies payments to Direct Loans and FFELP loans owned by the government and FFELP loans owned by private banks.
The one difference is for federal loans in repayment under an income-driven repayment plan. Those payments are applied to interest first, then to late fees and, finally, to the principal balance. It’s likely the majority of what you pay will go toward interest when you’re on an income-driven plan. Interest accrues quickly on these plans because you’re paying less per month over a longer period of time.
Also keep in mind that you’ll save money in the long run if you make a point to contribute more than your scheduled payment each month. The more you pay now, the larger the dent you’ll make in your principal balance.
What to do if you’re behind on your payments
The sooner you get in touch with Navient to resolve past-due payments, the better. As soon as you receive a notice or realize on your own that your payment was late, call the company at (800) 722-1300. Ask how much you’d have to pay to bring your account up to date, and how you can make the payment so it’s applied as soon as possible.
Late federal loan payments don’t negatively affect your credit until you’re 90 days behind. That’s when Navient alerts the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) that your loan is delinquent, which will stay on your credit report up to seven years.
If you’re having trouble affording your payments, log into Navient’s website and click “Apply for deferment” or “Apply for forbearance.” Each allows you to take a break from loan payments if you go back to school, are unemployed or have another financial hardship, but subsidized federal loans don’t accrue interest when you’re in deferment (interest will continue to add up when you’re in forbearance). The specific circumstances that make you eligible for one or the other differ, too.
You also may have the option to switch repayment plans so you’re paying less per month, which could require additional paperwork. Go to “Change Payment” in the top navigation bar of Navient’s website and click on “Change your payment.” Then choose, “I would like to lower my monthly payment amount.” You’ll be prompted to enter income and loan information, which will help Navient determine if you qualify for an income-driven repayment plan. You can also call the company at (800) 722-1300 so a representative can walk you through the process.
How you can pay down loans faster
Your options for paying more than your scheduled monthly payment include:
- Setting up automatic debit for a higher amount than you owe each month; or
- Making a separate payment at another point in the month, in addition to your monthly bill.
When you pay more than your scheduled amount due, Navient applies that amount across all the loans in that billing group. They’ll first apply the extra to interest accrued since your last payment, then to each of your principal balances according to the amount due for each one.
If the additional amount you’ve paid is equal to or more than your next month’s payment, Navient will “advance your due date,” meaning the extra amount will automatically go toward next month’s payment on the loans in that billing group. If you pay less than the amount of your future payment — you paid an extra $75, say, but your monthly bill comes to $200 — then your due date won’t be advanced.
Navient will continue to deduct the amount you’ve scheduled to pay each month if you’ve paid extra while enrolled in automatic debit.
The way Navient automatically applies your extra payments might not help you pay down your loans fastest. Instead, you can give the company special instructions to apply extra payments to a specific loan — to the one with the highest interest rate, for instance — or to not advance your due date. To do so, you can mail instructions to Navient (on a separate piece of paper —not directly on the check — if you pay by check), and specify whether it’s a one-time request or should happen on a recurring basis. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau put together a sample letter you can use.
You can also target payments when you pay online. After choosing “Make a Payment” from the “Make Payment” drop-down menu, enter the amount you want to pay on each loan group in “Pay Amount.” On the next page you can choose not to advance your due date.
Whom to contact if you have questions
There are lots of ways to contact Navient.
Call
The number is (800) 722-1300 or (888) 272-5543, depending on the type of loan you have. Navient representatives are available Monday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time.
Have your Social Security number and account information handy so you can refer to it when you speak with customer service.
Click on “Customer Support” on the top navigation bar when you’re logged in, then choose “Email us” in the drop-down menu to send an email through your account.
If you have an urgent question about your loan payments, calling is your best bet. Don’t hesitate to contact Navient, especially if you’re having trouble making your payments or you’re interested in switching repayment plans. It’s your servicer’s job to help you.
Brianna McGurran is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: bmcgurran@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @briannamcscribe.
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