Nelnet Student Loan Servicer: Everything You Need to Know
If you know what Nelnet is, most likely Nelnet has been assigned to you as your student loan servicer. Maybe you are still in college, getting your first student loan disbursement or maybe you are already well on your way into paying down your student loans.
Either way, you’ve come to the right place. Nelnet has served as my student loan servicer since 2010. I started making regular payments in 2017 so I have roughly 8 years of experience with this student loan servicer.
This is going to be a quick, no-hasstle guide on navigating Nelnet, how to get started, things to look for, and ways you can simplify your life to make sure you never miss any payments.
Getting Started
Make sure you choose Login as a Borrower and proceed to enter your username. If it’s your first time on the site you will have to first register for an account.
Once you’ve successfully entered your login information, you will be met with the Home screen which gives you a quick overview of the most important things you want to keep in mind.
On the left-hand side, you have the Payment Due header which is the most important thing you should keep a lookout for every time you visit the site. This houses your Due Date, your Payment Amount (how much is due), and any recent payments that are in process.
On the right-hand side, the Account Details gives you an overview of your entire loans. Be sure to check for any new messages on your Inbox.
It will also show the Last Payment that Nelnet has received from you. Right underneath is Current Balance which is the total amount you owe.
The Status will tell you what kind of payment plan you are on. FYI: I am on the REPAYE and cannot rave about it enough.
Lastly, if you are on an Income-Driven Plan, you can see when you are due to recertify (must be done annually).
More Details
To see more details on all your loans, head over to the Loan Details tab right next to the Home tab. Here you’ll find all your loan groups, their interest rates, the accrued interest, and both the Principal Balance (what you borrowed) and Outstanding Balance (Principal + Accrued Interest).
Making Payments
To make a payment, it is as easy as clicking the green Make a Payment button housed in the Payment Due box on the H
Before you can make any payments you will need to link your Bank Account to Nelnet. This is done by adding an account to your Payment Profiles by clicking on your name on the top right-hand side and selecting the second option, Payment Profiles.
The good news is this is a one-time-only step Income-Driven and you are able to add multiple payments to your account.
On the Make a Payment page, you have two options. If you have multiple loans from different semesters and types you can either choose the more simple “Pay By Account” which lets you make one payment which Nelnet will distribute amongst your loans groups or you can choose “Pay By Group” to specifically allocate your payment to specific loan(s) of your choice.
Keep in mind that if you choose to Pay By Group, you will still need to keep up with your minimum payments to all your other loan groups.
If you make extra payments above your minimum required payments, Nelnet automatically distributes the extra payment to the loan group(s) with the highest interest rate.
I am personally very happy with that since that’s in-line with my Debt Avalanche strategy. However, if you have a different debt repayment strategy, the Pay By Group option will give you more control.
If you are looking for a hands-off approach to your loan payments, make sure you sign up for Auto Debit which may qualify you for a 0.25% interest rate reduction.
Overall Thoughts on Nelnet
I obviously cannot speak for everyone, but I have personally had a good experience with Nelnet. The website is intuitive. For the most part, I am able to do what I want online without having to make special requests.
I thankfully have not faced any of the nightmare stories that I’ve heard some students faced in paying their loans from whichever loan servicer they have. But I’ve also never had any loan servicer other than Nelnet so I cannot compare.
Overall I am satisfied with Nelnet and will continue using it (not that I have much choice).