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Great Lakes Customer Service: Overview and How to Contact
Updated On September 6, 2022
Editorial Note: This content is based solely on the author's opinions and is not provided, approved, endorsed or reviewed by any financial institution or partner.
Great Lakes is a leading student loan servicer for millions of student loan service borrowers. Great Lakes is now part of Nelnet, but operates independently as a student loan servicer.
Great Lakes is one of the four main student loan servicers of federal student loans. The other three are Navient, Nelnet and American Education Services (AES).
Here’s what you should know about Great Lakes to maximize your customer service experience, if Great Lakes is your student loan servicer. In this guide, we will discuss:
- Is Great Lakes my student loan servicer?
- Great Lakes student loan repayment options
- How to make student loan payments to Great Lakes
- How to contact Great Lakes customer service
- How to file a complaint against Great Lakes
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Is Great Lakes my student loan servicer?
A student loan servicer such as Great Lakes collects and manages your student loan payments. For federal student loans, the U.S. Department of Education assigns you a student loan servicer. That means that you cannot choose your student loan servicer, unless you choose to refinance your student loans. If you think AES may be your student loan servicer, or if you’re not sure who’s your student loan servicer, then you can verify your student loans with these simple options.
- Log into the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS): The NSLDS database includes all information about your student loans, including balances, history and student loan servicers. You can login with your Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID.
- Check your credit report: Your credit report will also tell you whether Great Lakes is your student loan servicer. You can order a free credit report for all major credit bureaus from AnnualCreditReport.com.
- Contact Great Lakes: You can contact Great Lakes directly to verify if Great Lakes if your student loan servicer. The phone number for Great Lakes is 1-800-236-4300.
Great Lakes student loan repayment options
OSLA offers several student loan repayment options:
Standard Repayment Plan: A standard repayment plan lasts up to 10 years and the monthly installment payment remains the same throughout the repayment period.
Graduated Repayment Plan: A graduated repayment plan varies throughout the repayment period. A graduated repayment plan starts with smaller monthly payments and increases over time.
For a limited time, the monthly payment is typically interest only and smaller than the standard repayment plan.
Income-Sensitive Repayment Plan: An income-sensitive repayment plan is based on monthly gross income and your amount of student loan debt. The monthly loan payment is based on a fixed percentage of gross monthly income, between 4% and 25%.
Income-Based Repayment (IBR): Income-Based Repayment (IBR) is an example in an income-driven repayment plan, which lowers your monthly payment based on your discretionary income. With an income-driven payment, your monthly payment may be as low as $0.
25-Year Extended Repayment Plan: The 25-Year Extended Repayment Plan lowers your monthly payment and extends the repayment plan from 10 years to 25 years.
To qualify, you must have a current loan balance of at least $30,000 and your student loans were disbursed after October 7, 1998.
Student loan borrowers with federal student loans also have access to income-driven repayment plans, student loan forgiveness, forbearance and deferment.
Great Lakes also helps you manage your private student loans, which AES calls “alternative loans.” While federal student loans have more repayment options, AES asks borrowers to contact them to discuss any difficulty with student loan repayment. You can also refinance your private student loans to get a lower interest rate. When you refinance student loans, you can save thousands of dollars and pay off your student loans faster. You’ll need a good to strong credit score, recurring income and low debt-to-income ratio. You can compare the latest student loan refinancing rates and find the best lender for you.
How to make student loan payments to Great Lakes
Great Lakes offers several ways to pay off student loans. You can sign up for auto pay and have your monthly student loan payments directly debited from your bank account. When you sign up for auto pay, you may receive a reduction in your student loan interest rate. You can also pay online on the Great Lakes website.
You can use your Great Lakes student loans login. When you register on the Great Lakes website, you will create user ID and password. To make a payment, you can sign in, click “Payments” and enter your payment information.
Other options to pay student loans include through the Great Lakes mobile app and by phone, mail and bill pay.
How to contact Great Lakes customer service
There are various ways to contact Great Lakes customer service:
Great Lakes Phone Number: 1-800-236-4300
Great Lakes Hours of Operation: Monday – Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 9 p.m. Central
Great Lakes Website: mygreatlakes.org
Great Lakes Email: Email Great Lakes at borrowerservices@glhec.org
Send an email through the Great Lakes website.
Great Lakes Social Media: Great Lakes Facebook and Great Lakes Twitter
Great Lakes Fax Number: 1-800-375-5288
Great Lakes Customer Login: https://mygreatlakes.org/educate/login.html
Great Lakes Mailing Address For Student Loans From U.S. Department of Education:Great Lakes
P.O. Box 530229
Atlanta, GA 30353-0229
Great Lakes Mailing Address ForFFELP Student Loans:Great Lakes
P.O. Box 3059
Milwaukee, WI 53201-3059
Great Lakes Mailing Address For General Correspondence:Great Lakes
P.O. Box 7860
Madison, WI 53707-7860
How to file a complaint against Great Lakes
If you want to complain about Great Lakes customer service or file a complaint against Great Lakes as your student loan servicer, you have several options. First, you can file a complaint with Great Lakes’sstudent loan ombudsman. You can contact the Great Lakes student loan ombudsman by calling 1-866-348-0708or email greatlakesservicingombudsman@glhec.org. You can also file a complaint on the Great Lakes website by completing a contact form.
You can also file a complaint against Great Lakes with:
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Your state consumer protection office
- Federal Student Aid
- Your state attorney general
- Your congressional representative
You should maintain written communication between you and Great Lakes. This may include your monthly statements, records of communication with a Great Lakes customer service representative, emails and other correspondence.
You may also contact the U.S. Department of Education Ombudsman:
Phone: 1- 877-557-2575
Mailing Address:
U.S. Department of Education,
Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group
P.O. Box 1843
Monticello, KY 42633
The Federal Student Aid (FSA) Ombudsman Information Checklistis helpful to complete before contacting the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman.
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