Edfinancial Services for Student Loans: What It Can Do and How to Contact

Edfinancial Services is one of several companies that service federal student loans by collecting and tracking payments. It is sometimes seen as HESC/Edfinancial.

In December 2021, Edfinancial took over all student loans from Granite State Management and Resources (GSMR), a former servicer.

To complicate matters further, Edfinancial is in the midst of transferring its loans to a new servicing platform. These loans will still be managed by Edfinancial after the platform transfer is complete, but affected borrowers may need to set up a new account. The company said it will notify all borrowers before their loans are transferred, but you might miss this alert if your contact information is out of date. If you're not sure if your Edfinancial loans have been moved to the new platform, call them at 1-855-337-6884. The Federal Student Aid office is also posting updates on its website.

If Edfinancial is your student loan servicer, here’s what it can help you do.

• Register for online access to your account. Once you have access you can contact Edfinancial, access your monthly billing statements and pay bills.

• Enroll in autopay. Edfinancial can deduct your payments automatically from your bank account. Signing up for autopay will reduce your interest by 0.25 percentage point.

• Sign up for income-driven repayment. You can request income-driven repayment, which limits your student loan payments to a percentage of your income, by completing a paper form with Edfinancial. (You can apply online on studentaid.gov and then recertify your income each year online as well.)

• Process deferment and forbearance requests. Edfinancial can help you temporarily stop making payments or reduce your payment amount if you qualify. This helps you stay in good standing to avoid default. But during any periods of deferment or forbearance, interest can continue to build on most loans.

• Process monthly payments and extra payments. Edfinancial will track and collect your payments. If you want to make additional payments, you can instruct Edfinancial (online, by phone or by mail) to apply extra payments to your current balance. Otherwise, it may apply the additional amount to next month’s payment instead.

» MORE: Federal student loan servicers: Who are they and what do they do?

Your loan servicer is assigned by the U.S. Department of Education when your loan is disbursed to your college for the first time. The name of the company sending you a federal loan bill every month is your servicer. If your loan payments haven’t begun or you’re not sure which company is your servicer, log in to My Federal Student Aid to find out. You can also get in touch with any of the loan servicer contact centers by calling 1-800-4-FED-AID.

Servicers are there to help you, but they may offer choices that are best for the company, not the borrower. That means they can’t change how payments are processed and may not suggest the most beneficial repayment option for you. It’s most important to know your repayment options so you can know the right questions to ask.

Am I stuck with Edfinancial until my loans are paid off?

Loans are sometimes transferred from one servicer to another by the Department of Education.

The Department of Education is planning to shift the student loan servicing landscape by signing new servicing contracts with five companies to eventually take over all loan servicing. That means your loan servicer is likely to change. Edfinancial is scheduled to continue servicing loans through at least December 2023.

Prior to servicing contracts ending, borrowers should do the following:

• Download and save your payment history from your online account or request a copy from your servicer.

• Update your contact information with your most recent address, phone number and email address.

You’ll be notified when a loan servicing transfer happens, and you’ll manage payments with the new servicer. All servicers deliver the same options and programs, but customer service may differ from one to another.

Otherwise, you are likely to remain with Edfinancial unless you act to switch servicers. Use this tool to find out what might work for you.

How to reach Edfinancial customer service

Edfinancial phone number

• For Direct Loans - account numbers beginning with "F": 1-855-337-6884 (general inquiries and phone payments).

• For FFELP and private loans - account numbers beginning with "C": 1-800-337-6884 (general inquiries); 1-866-709-0202 (phone payments).

• For military members: 1-800-337-6884.

Edfinancial hours of operation: Monday 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. ET; Tuesday and Wednesday 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET; Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. ET.

Edfinancial mailing addresses:

• To submit documents relate to your Direct Loans: Edfinancial Services P.O. Box 36008 Knoxville, TN 37930-6008

• To submit documents relate to your FFELP and private loans: Edfinancial Services P.O.Box 36014 Knoxville, TN 37930-6014

• To send all payments, if you received notification that your account was transferred to Edfinancial's new servicing platform: US Department of Education P.O.Box 790322 St. Louis, MO 63179-0322

• To send all payments, if you have NOT received notification that your account was transferred to Edfinancial's new servicing platform: US Department of Education P.O.Box 4830 Portland, OR 97208-4830

Edfinancial website: edfinancial.com

Edfinancial email: Use the online form.

Edfinancial social channels: Edfinancial Facebook and Edfinancial Twitter

How to complain about Edfinancial

If you’re having difficulty with Edfinancial that you have been unable to resolve, start by filing a complaint directly with a customer service representative.

If your issue goes unresolved, you can also make complaints about Edfinancial to:

• Federal Student Aid Feedback System.

• Your state attorney general's office.

• Your state consumer protection office.

• Your congressional representative.

Make sure to keep records of conversations you have, including the day, time and customer service representative you spoke with. Keep copies of any letters, bills or emails about your account.

How to settle a dispute with Edfinancial

If a complaint doesn’t help, you can contact the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group. This method should be used only as a last resort, the federal student aid office says. When you’re ready to do so, here's how:

Phone: 877-557-2575

By mail: U.S. Department of Education

FSA Ombudsman Group P.O. Box 1854 Monticello, KY 42633

You can also reach out to a student loans nonprofit such as The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, which provides free dispute resolution.

The federal student loan servicers

Learn more about each of the federal loan servicers, including what they can do and how to contact.