Through Federal Student Aid (a performance-based organization), the U.S. Department of Education awards more than $120 billion a year in grants, work-study funds, and low-interest loans to approximately 13 million students.
The Department's elementary and secondary programs annually serve nearly 18,200 school districts and over 50 million students attending roughly 98,000 public schools and 32,000 private schools. Department programs also provide grant, loan, and work-study assistance to more than 12 million postsecondary students.
FSA, an office of the U.S. Department of Education (ED), is the largest provider of student financial aid in the nation. At FSA, our more than 1,400 employees help make postsecondary education possible for more than 9.9 million students each year.
Log in to your account on studentaid.gov. On your Dashboard click on “View Details.” Scroll down to “Loan Breakdown.” If the name of the loan servicer starts with “Dept. of Ed” or “Default Management Collection System,” then that loan is held (owned) by the federal government.
Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Forgiveness
If you repay your loans under an IDR plan, any remaining balance on your student loans will be forgiven after you make a certain number of payments over 20 or 25 years—or as few as 10 years under our newest IDR plan, the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan.
If the name of your servicer starts with “Dept. of Ed” or “Default Management Collection System,” your FFEL or Perkins loan is federally managed (i.e., held by ED). The “My Aid” section will also show you the servicer(s) for your loans.
Whoever gave you the money for your education (the lender) is usually who owns your student loan. This is either the federal government or a private company. But your loan servicer is who handles the loan repayment—and who dishes out the consequences if you don't pay up.
The U.S. Department of Education is the agency of the federal government that establishes policy for, administers and coordinates most federal assistance to education. It assists the president in executing his education policies for the nation and in implementing laws enacted by Congress.
If you submitted your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form, you can expect the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to process your form based on the method of submission: Forms submitted electronically are processed within one to three days. Paper forms are processed within 7–10 days.
Not sure who to contact? You can find your federal student loan information on the Department of Education's Studentaid.gov website or by calling 800.4. FED. AID.
The story is different with federal student loans. The U.S. Department of Education doesn't sell defaulted student loans to debt collection agencies.
It is also important to note that the department administers a $1.7 trillion student loan portfolio. If ED simply ceased to exist, then all the loans it currently holds would not be able to be collected unless the systems used to process those payments were transferred to another agency.
Dr. Miguel Cardona. Secretary Cardona was nominated by President Joe Biden and sworn into office as the 12th United States Secretary of Education on March 2, 2021.
Sallie Mae is not a federal loan servicer.
The Sallie Mae of today, however, is an education solutions company and consumer banking business. The other company became Navient. Importantly, the two companies are independent and not associated with one another.
The entire unpaid balance of your loan and any interest you owe becomes immediately due (this is called "acceleration"). Your tax refunds and federal benefit payments may be withheld and applied toward repayment of your defaulted loan (this is called “Treasury offset”). Your wages may be garnished.
ED funding for grades K-12 is primarily through programs supporting economically disadvantaged school systems: Title I provides funding for children from low-income families. This funding is allocated to state and local education agencies based on Census poverty estimates. In 2023, that amounted to over $18 billion.
The mission of the Department of Education (ED) is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access for students of all ages.
The Department oversees research on most aspects of education; collects data on trends; and gathers information to help identify best practices in education, including teaching techniques that work.
Federal student loans are owned by the U.S. Department of Education while private student loans are owned by the financial institution that granted them. Learn more how who owns student loans and how to find out who owns your student loan.
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) uses several loan servicers to handle the billing and other services on loans for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program and for loans that were made under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program and that ED later purchased.
When the time comes to start making payments, only the student is obligated to repay these loans — not the parents. In fact, there's no co-signer. If the student defaults on a federal student loan, it will affect the student's credit and won't be reported on the parent's credit history.
The Bottom Line. So, if Trump manages to eliminate the Department of Education, do you still have to pay your student loans? The short answer is “yes,” but you will likely pay the loans to a different federal agency.
Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, is the largest provider of student financial aid in the nation.
Your student loan servicer(s) will notify you directly after your forgiveness is processed. Make sure to keep your contact information up to date on StudentAid.gov and with your servicer(s). If you haven't yet qualified for forgiveness, you'll be able to see your exact payment counts in the future.