Great Lakes is a student loan servicer who was chosen by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to service your federal student loans. To view all of your federal loans, including those with other servicers, visit StudentAid.gov .

Is Great Lakes student loans legit?

Chances are, if you have student loans, you get a lot of shady offers in the mail. But don’t throw out that Great Lakes envelope right away. Great Lakes is, indeed, a legit company. In fact, they might even be your student loan servicer.

How do I pay off my Great Lakes student loan?

Log in to mygreatlakes.org, if you haven’t already, to view your Account Summary, and then view the details for the loan you want to pay off. Choose get payoff amount and enter your desired payoff date to display your payoff amount.

Is Great Lakes a good loan servicer?

On average, Great Lakes received the highest score out of all of the loan servicers: 3.8 out of 5 stars.

Do extra student loan payments go to principal?

Your student loan is made up of your principal balance, or the amount you borrowed. That payment goes towards your principal balance, interest and fees. On top of your monthly payments, you can make extra payments that go towards your principal balance.

Who is the Great Lakes student loan servicer?

Great Lakes Student Loans handles 20% of all federal student loan accounts. You can always check who your student loan servicer is on your Federal Student Aid account. Federal Student Aid.

What’s the interest rate on a Great Lakes student loan?

Many grads with Great Lakes-serviced loans have been able to cut their monthly payments significantly by refinancing with a private lender at a lower interest rate. If you owe at least $5,000 and you’re paying more than 4% interest, it’s a good idea to explore refinancing.

Where is the Great Lakes loan company located?

Great Lakes is based in Madison, Wisconsin and has been in business since 1967. It does not originate loans, but instead guarantees them and makes collections on behalf of lenders. Unlike many of its competitors, Great Lakes is a nonprofit corporation and is not publicly traded.

Who are the largest servicers of federal student loans?

Great Lakes is now the second-largest servicer of federal student loans, behind American Education Services (AES). Great Lakes handles about 23% of the U.S. Department of Education’s direct loans , serving approximately 8 million borrowers with debt totaling over $220 billion .