Making on-time payments may help your credit and save you money
When you make on-time payments on your student loans, it can help you build and maintain a good credit rating—and save you the extra expense of late fees.
Know your loan servicers
You may have both federal and private student loans for your undergraduate and graduate school education.
- For federal loans, visit the National Student Loan Data System to see who your servicers are.
- For private loans, you can request a free credit report from annualcreditreport.com that’ll list the student loans reported to the consumer reporting agencies. (Most servicers report their loans to these consumer reporting agencies.)
Keep your contact information up to date
You can update your info by clicking the "Log In" button at the top of the page—access your account and make any needed changes.
Enroll in auto debit and you may save money on your loan
Auto debit is the most convenient way to ensure your student loan payments are made on time—each month, we’ll automatically withdraw your payment from the authorized bank account.
When you enroll, you can choose to pay the Current Amount Due, which is the amount required to be paid each month until the loan is paid in full, or you could choose to pay more each month (a Designated Amount) which may help lower your Total Loan Cost. If the Designated Amount you choose is less than the Current Amount Due in any month, we will withdraw the Current Amount Due instead to prevent your loan from becoming past due. If your loan becomes past due while enrolled in this option, we’ll withdraw both the Current Amount Due and the Past Due Amount if that amount is greater than your Designated Amount.
There’s no penalty for paying early or paying extra. If you make an additional payment while enrolled in auto debit, it won’t change the amount we withdraw.
Enrolling online or in our app may also qualify you for a 0.25% interest rate reduction so long as the loan is eligible—meaning it’s in active repayment and not forbearance or deferment—and the payment is successfully withdrawn monthly.
Access your loan anywhere with the Sallie Mae® app
Make payments and manage your Sallie Mae student loan from your iPhone ® or Android(TM) phone. Learn more about the mobile app.
Pay a little extra to lower your Total Loan Cost
Here’s a great way to save money—when you can, pay a little more than your required payments, which may reduce your Total Loan Cost.
Contact us if you’re having trouble making payments
Don’t wait until it’s too late! If you run into problems paying your student loan, contact us. We’re committed to working together to get you back on track. Use forbearance only as a last resort because interest will continue to accrue on your private student loans.
Read your billing statement carefully
It lists your monthly student loan payments and balances. Plus, it’s your source for important messages.
Make a monthly budget
Figure out how your student loan payments will fit with items like your salary, potential graduate school expenses, and living costs.