How to Figure out How Much Student Loan Debt you Have

Read this article if you don’t know your total amount of student loan debt. Estimated read time ~ 2 minutes.

The first step to making your student loan debt repayable is to know exactly how much of it you have. While it’s easier to deny reality and maintain only an estimate of your total debt load, it’s imperative to take control of your debt by facing the exact number.

Start with Federal Loans

To figure out the total amount of federal student loan debt you can go to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) website. This website is operated by the Department of Education and serves as a central data base for student aid. NSLDS gets their information from schools, the Direct Loan program and other Dept of Ed programs. This is your one stop spot to find your federal student loan total.

You will need your FSA ID to access the NSLDS. If you don’t have that you can set one up. One thing to note is that the information on the NSLDS tends to be older (up to 120 days) so you will want to obtain a balance from your loan servicer if you’re making payments.

Contact your Loan Servicer(s)

This works for both federal and private student loans. You can find out who your lender is by checking your credit report, your lender will be listed, or by asking your college’s financial aid office for help. Either way your current loan servicer will have the most accurate and up-to-date information on your loan balance.

Now that you’ve empowered yourself with a real number what’s the verdict? Is it more, less, or about the same amount you thought it was? I remember when I graduated I thought I had borrowed $118,000 then realized $10,000 of interest had accrued on my unsubsidized loans… it was such a bummer but very quickly helped me realize the financial burden of interest! Right now I owe $81,799.82. Share your experience with owning your number on the Repayable Facebook Page or in the comments below!

Additional Resources:

https://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds/nslds_SA/public/SaFaq.do

https://studentloanhero.com/featured/how-much-do-i-owe-in-student-loans/