Post-COVID 19 Pandemic Student Loan Repayment Restart

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, student loan payments of principal and interest have been suspended since March 2020. After several repayment pause extensions over the past 3.5 years, the national emergency has ended and loan repayment has resumed as of October 2023. 

In cooperation with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), the Black Hills State Financial Aid Office is providing these resources to help students navigate student loan repayment.

Contact Your Loan Servicer

Identifying Your Servicer

Here are some options for discovering your loan servicer for U.S. Department of Education owned loans:

• Visit your Dept of Education Student Aid account dashboard and scroll down to the "My Loan Servicers" section.

• Call the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) at 1-800-433-3243.

We have been informed that many borrowers are experiencing long wait times to reach servicer representatives by phone. NASFAA recommends that borrowers reach out to servicers on after ensuring the information they’re looking for is not on studentaid.gov, or their own loan servicer’s website. They also recommend communicating by email or using live chat features, rather than contacting their servicer’s call center. This will help reduce phone call waiting time for borrowers who must speak with a representative.

SAVE Loan Repayment Plan

The U.S. Department of Education recently released Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE), a new income-driven repayment plan which calculates your monthly payment amount based on your income and family size. The SAVE Plan provides the lowest monthly payments of any IDR plan available to nearly all student borrowers.

Use this link to see if your loans are eligible, and how to apply.