Jan 24, 2024 By Susan Kelly
Nelnet Diversified Solutions, LLC is the parent company, while Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc. is one of its subsidiaries. To service federal student loans, it works with professionals in the field of financial help and other enterprises. The loan servicer is the borrower's primary point of contact for making payments and getting answers to questions regarding issues that are related to the loan, even though it is not the lender of last resort.
Guarantors of loans are not the same as lenders in any way. The Department of Education in the United States of America will serve as your lender and point of contact for any federal student loans you apply for and are granted. The Department of Education will select a private organization to handle your loan's billing and customer service inquiries. These matters will be delegated to the private organization. After the funds from a loan have been distributed, a servicer is immediately appointed to the borrower. Excellent Lakes Educational Loan Services, also known as Great Lakes for short, is one of the ten firms permitted to manage federal student loans. It is also one of the largest. Great Lakes is one of the leading student loan servicers in the country since it collaborates with more than 6,000 educational institutions and serves millions of students around the country.
The specifications of your Great Lakes Education Loan will influence the amount of money it will cost you to make the required monthly payments. Great Lakes do not determine your loan's interest rate; instead, it is determined by the lender based on the type of loan you take out and the status of the economy. Great Lakes does not pick the interest rate for your loan.
Because determining the amount may require you to coordinate information from the government and Great Lakes, it may not be easy to estimate how much it will cost you because doing so may require you to do so. As a loan servicer, however, Great Lakes assists graduates in keeping track of their debt (even before they begin making payments) and choosing a repayment strategy tailored to their specific needs.
Borrowers of federal student loans are assigned a loan servicer, such as Great Lakes, responsible for managing their accounts and collecting payments. Great Lakes is in charge of issuing bills and collecting payments from borrowers for these loans. Borrowers who are experiencing trouble making their monthly loan payments may also receive assistance from Great Lakes. Applications for loan consolidation, forbearance, and deferment, as well as applications for additional modifications to the repayment plan, may be considered.
Several different qualities distinguish the Great Lakes. An analysis of each in greater detail may be found below.
Great Lakes is primarily involved in processing federal loans, but it also offers solutions for processing private loans through its agreements with FastChoice and ScholarNet.
Student loan borrowers have several payment choices available to them, including the following:
Great Lakes allows its borrowers to set up easy payment methods, including autopay and payment plans based on their income, so that they can better manage their finances. In addition to this, it will provide recommendations for rescheduling payments or extending the dates on which they are due. Along with this, borrowers can modify, halt, or postpone their loan repayments if they choose to do so with Great Lakes. Borrowers who are currently unemployed or serving in the military can apply. Forgiveness of student loans is offered under the Great Lakes program to individuals who are disabled or who work full-time in the public sector.
At Great Lakes, we have a team of financial assistance experts standing by to assist you in any way we can. Great Lakes' primary customer care telephone number is (800) 236-4300, but in addition, the company provides many other ways for customers to get in touch with it. Creditors can also get in touch with you by:
The teaching resources and administrative tools provided by Great Lakes are of exceptional quality. The user interface is intuitive and offers a wide variety of adaptable solutions for managing debt.
Check out this page to see how Great Lakes Educational Loans stacks up against other certified servicers.
Great Lakes is fully stocked with all the necessary customer service resources throughout Mohela. In contrast to Mohela, Great Lakes offers live chat support to its customers. Great Lakes is open from 7 in the morning until 9 in the evening during the weekdays (Tuesday through Friday), but Mohela is only open from 7 in the morning until 7 in the evening.
Great Lakes and Higher Education Servicing Corporation makes private and government student loans available to its customers (HESC). On the other hand, Great Lakes has working relationships with several other vendors, including ScholarNet and FastChoice, whereas HESC only collaborates with a limited number of different suppliers.
Borrowers are required to submit a FAFSA to be considered for a federal student loan. Borrowers are not permitted to choose or switch the servicer that handles their federal student loans; however, they are permitted to do so when applying for a consolidation loan. Students enrolled at Great Lakes institutions can set up online accounts. Individuals are required to provide their Social Security number in addition to their birth date to create an account.
One of the organizations that the Department of Education of the United States of America contracts out to service federal student loans is Great Lakes Educational Loan Services. Great Lakes offers borrowers a choice of plan options for paying off their student loans. Additionally, former students can make payments through the mail, phone, on the company's website, or via its mobile app. The online tools provided by Great Lakes can also assist you in selecting the most appropriate repayment plan for your specific requirements.