Frequently Asked Questions

A 1: Yes. Use your education loan to build a good credit history. Your servicer reports the status of your loan regularly to national credit bureaus. Credit information stays on your credit report for at least 7 years. It is your responsibility to make your payments on time, or to contact your servicer and complete any necessary paperwork ahead of time if you will be unable to make a payment.

A 2: Yes. There is no prepayment penalty. You can make large lump sum payments, pay extra on your loan payments or pay the entire loan in full.

A 3: Student loans, in most cases, are not dischargeable under bankruptcy laws. Contact us before filing bankruptcy so we may work with you to identify possible temporary solutions. These possible solutions may prevent your loan from defaulting or being reported delinquent while in bankruptcy.

A 4: The best way to insure your loan payment is applied to a specific loan is to indicate the letter of the loan you wish to pay on your coupon.

A 5 If you would prefer to receive e-mail notification that your monthly statement is available online for you to view instead of receiving a mailed statement, please sign-up to receive monthly e-mail notification that your statement is ready to view online.

If you prefer to receive your monthly statement by mail, your monthly statement is mailed to you from our Concord, NH facilities approximately 19 days prior to your due date. If your payment due date is in the past, then you are considered delinquent on your loan. If your statement is late in arriving, you may use our online services to generate a payment coupon to use to mail your payment:

To view your account information online and print a payment coupon, click on the Borrower Services button above, enter your username and password in the appropriate boxes on the right side of the page, and then click on "Statement Information" from the left-hand toolbar to view your statement and to print your coupon.

If you are a first time visitor to our site: Please click the "First Time User?" link, complete the steps. You will need to have your nine-digit account number to create your account; your nine-digit account number can be found on your monthly statement.

A 6: Yes, borrowers who pay ahead are still eligible for the benefit, however, a payment must still be made each month. Also the benefit will not take effect until the month following the specified number of consecutive on-time payments. As a benefit to our borrowers, "on-time" for this incentive is within 10 days of the payment due date.

A 7: Loans are reviewed annually to ensure that the impact of changing interest rates will not impact the amortization schedule of the loan. By doing this, loans are paid off within the term established and without the surprise of a large final payment. Customers are notified of payment changes.

A 8: You will need a court order, marriage certificate or Certificate of Naturalization.

A 9: You will need one of the following documents; a social security card, current driver's license, birth certificate, state ID, US Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570), court order, marriage certificate, W-2 form, passport, unexpired US Military ID, US Military discharge papers (Form DD214), US Certificate of Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-561), or an alien registration card (Form I-551 or I-151).

A 1: The deferments available to you depend on when you took out your first loan and what type of loan(s) you have. Congress has changed deferment types over the years, so some loans have different deferments available than other loans. Even if there isn't a deferment available, ask your servicer what other options may be available to help you with repayment.

A 2: You may be able to defer your loans. Contact your servicer for a deferment or other options available to you. Once you cease attendance, repayment will resume immediately. You will not receive another grace period.

A 4: Please contact GSM&R to make sure your loan status is correct or send us a letter stating your last date of enrollment. Click here for more information on school withdrawal.

A 5: Unsubsidized Stafford, parent PLUS, TREE and LEAF loans will always accrue interest, whether the loan is on deferment, forbearance or in repayment. Subsidized Stafford loans will accrue interest during repayment and times of forbearance; they will not accrue interest during any type of deferment. Any unpaid interest at the end of a deferment or forbearance will be capitalized onto the loan.

A 6: GSM&R needs to know whenever you change schools; do not rely on your school to automatically notify GSM&R of any enrollment changes. Please call our Customer Service department to speak with a representative about your options. We can be reached at 1-800-719-0708 M-F, 8am to 6pm EST. You can also e-mail us at customerservice@gsmr.org.