Frequently Asked Questions

General
1. Can I make a payment or pay interest over the phone?
2. What is the balance of my account now?
3. Where do I mail my payment and to whom do I make my check payable?
4. What are delinquency and default on a federal student loan?
5. How can I update my name, address, or phone number?
6. How are payments applied to my loans?
7. Are there any penalties for prepaying my federal student loans with Access Group?
8. If I fail the bar exam and need to retake it, can I defer my federal student loans for the time necessary to do so?
9. If my current employment and/or income situation are unstable, what can I do if my federal student loans are in repayment?
10. Has Access Group started offering Federal Consolidation Loans again?
11. What is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program and how can I take advantage of it?
12. What if my loan was previously serviced by The Student Loan People?


Payment Plans
13. Can I change the repayment plan on my federal student loans once I’m in repayment?
14. Can I lower my monthly federal student loan payment by switching to a different repayment plan?
15. Are there any repayment plans that allow the monthly payment on my federal student loans to be based on my income?
16. How is the monthly payment calculated on my federal student loans using the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan?
17. What are the negative aspects of the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan?
18. What is the minimum payment under Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan?
19. How does the Income-Sensitive Repayment (ISR) Plan work?
20. Is there a federal student loan repayment plan that’s designed for someone who expects to make more income over time?
21. What federal student loan repayment plan produces the lowest total cost in interest paid over the life of loan repayment?


Interest
22. If I increase the amount I pay each month on my federal student loans, can I decrease the interest rate on those loans?
23. How can I decrease the interest rate on my federal student loans?
24. Will the interest rate on my federal student loans with Access Group ever change?
25. How can I repay my federal student loans with the highest interest rate(s) more quickly?
26. What happens to the interest during deferment and forbearance of my federal student loans?
27. How much interest has accrued on my loan(s)?
28. When does accrued interest get added to my balance?

If you still have questions, e-mail us at general@accessgroup.org or call us at 877-472-3227, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

Yes. You may either pay online by clicking the Payments tab or call Access Group at 877-472-3227 to pay by phone.

Yes, you can change to a different repayment plan at least once a year, provided you qualify for that plan. You may need to submit application materials to determine your eligibility for the plan. Keep in mind that you may not qualify if you leave a plan and attempt to go back to it at a later date.

You can view the estimated current balance on your account by clicking the My Account tab and checking the total column in the “Loans” table. Note: This is not your payoff amount and may not include supplement fees.

Please make checks payable to Access Group and mail to
Access Group
Payment Operations
P.O. Box 822349
Philadelphia, PA 19182-2349

Delinquency occurs when a federal student loan becomes one day past due. Default occurs when the loan is 270 days past due.

Contact your loan holder/servicer immediately if:
- You’ll have trouble making a payment;
- Your address, phone number or name changes;
- Your eligibility for a deferment or forbearance changes; or
- Anything else changes in your circumstances that affect repayment of your student loans.

You can make updates to your address and phone number by clicking on the My Profile tab in My Account.

If your name has changed, you must provide a written request and a copy of one of the legal documents listed below.

Name change requests can be faxed to 302-477-4080 or mailed to:

Access Group
Attn: Name Change
P.O. Box 7480
Wilmington, DE 19803-7480

Acceptable legal documents for name change. You must supply a copy of at least one:

- Court order
- Marriage certificate
- U.S. Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N570)
- Social Security card
- Birth certificate
- Unexpired, government-issued identification (e.g., driver’s license, passport, etc.)
- W-2 Form
- U.S. military discharge papers (Form DD214)
- U.S. Certificate of Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-561)
- Alien Registration Card (Form 1-151)

Please contact Access Group with any questions.

No, there are no penalties for paying more than the required minimum monthly payment or making a payment when one is not due on your federal student loans with Access Group.

If you qualify, you may be able to postpone repayment on your federal student loans using either a deferment or forbearance if you are unable to make payments while preparing to retake the bar exam. Contact your loan holder/servicer for more information and to request a deferment or forbearance.

You should contact your current federal student loan holder(s)/servicer(s) to discuss your repayment options. You may be eligible to temporarily postpone repayment on your federal student loans using either a deferment or forbearance. Conversely, you may be able to switch to a federal student loan repayment plan that provides the flexibility you need right now in meeting your monthly loan repayment obligation.

Unfortunately, we are not offering Federal Consolidation Loans at this time. If you are considering federal loan consolidation so that you lower your monthly loan payment, you may want to consider switching to either the Extended Repayment or the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plans. For more information about Extended Repayment visit our Lower My Payments page. For more information about IBR, visit our IBR Repayment Plan page.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program allows for loan cancellation on Federal Direct Loans after 120 months of working full-time in an eligible public service position (typically a federal, state, local or tribal government position, or working for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization) in which qualifying monthly loan payments have been made using either Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) or the monthly payment amount paid is at least equal to the amount required initially under the Standard Repayment Plan. Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program borrowers (those who borrowed their Federal Stafford, Federal PLUS or Federal Consolidation Loans from a bank, credit union, savings and loan or other private institution) are permitted to consolidate their eligible Federal Stafford, Federal PLUS and Federal Consolidation Loans in the Federal Direct Loan Program at www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov in order to take advantage of this program.

You may be able to reduce your monthly federal student loan payment by switching to a different repayment plan. It will depend on what plan you are currently using and whether or not you are eligible to switch to a plan that requires a lower monthly loan payment. In general, the Graduated, Extended, Income-Sensitive and Income-Based Repayment Plans all could require a lower monthly payment than the Standard Repayment Plan initially. For more information, visit our Lower My Payments page.

Income-Based Repayment (IBR) is an income-related plan for Federal Stafford Loans, Federal Grad PLUS Loans and Federal Consolidation Loans (that do not include the payoff of a Federal Parent PLUS Loan). For more information about IBR, visit our IBR Plan page. Income-Sensitive Repayment (ISR) is also available for repaying Federal Stafford, Grad PLUS and Federal Consolidation Loans. For more information about ISR, visit our ISR Plan page.

Your monthly loan payment is initially based on your household’s adjusted gross income (AGI), your household size, the state where you live, and the federal poverty guidelines. For more information about IBR, visit our IBR Plan page.

While IBR is designed to help borrowers who are experiencing “partial financial hardship,” it may result in the required monthly loan payment being less than the accrued interest (referred to as negative amortization). This unpaid interest increases the total debt even though the loan is in the process of being repaid. Borrowers also must provide verification of their adjusted gross income and household size on an annual basis to continue participating in the plan. Finally, the required monthly payment will be adjusted annually to reflect changes in adjusted gross income, household size and the federal poverty guidelines.

If you qualify for IBR, your monthly loan payment is based on your household’s adjusted gross income (AGI), household size, state of residence and the federal poverty guidelines published annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is possible that your initial monthly payment could be as low as $0 if your household’s AGI is below 150% of the federal poverty guideline for your household size and state of residence. For more information, visit our IBR site.

Monthly payments using the Income-Sensitive Repayment Plan (ISR) are based on your anticipated total gross income. Your monthly payment can be no less than the amount of monthly accrued interest and no more than three times greater than any other payment. In order to qualify for this repayment plan, you must provide requested income documentation annually so that the monthly payment can be adjusted as needed. For more information, visit our Income-Sensitive page.

Although you could consider any federal student loan repayment plan, the Graduated Repayment Plan and the Extended Repayment Plan using the graduated option provide for incremental increases in the required minimum monthly payment over time on your eligible federal student loans. Initial payments are low (typically covering only the accrued interest) and then increase at scheduled points in time. For more information about these two plans visit our Lower My Payments page.

Another plan to consider is Income-Based Repayment (IBR) if you are currently experiencing a “partial financial hardship.” For more information about IBR, visit our IBR page.

The Standard Repayment Plan produces the lowest cost in total interest paid when repaying Federal Stafford, Federal PLUS and/or Federal Consolidation Loans. This plan requires the highest initial monthly loan payment of the five available federal student loan repayment plans. This causes the loan principal to be repaid more quickly, and thus, results in less interest accrual than with the other four plans.

No, the interest rate will not change on your federal student loans because you increase the amount you pay each month.

You may qualify for an interest rate reduction for making payments on time for eligible loans and/or for signing up to make your monthly loan payments using automatic electronic funds transfer with Access Group.

Note: Eligibility for interest rate reduction benefits and the amount of the rate reduction on your Access Group loans depend on the year you borrowed the loan, the loan type, and the school you attended.

It depends on the type of loan and may depend on when it was borrowed.

Federal Stafford Loans that were first disbursed on or after July 1, 2006, have a fixed rate equal to 6.8%. Stafford Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 1998, but before July 1, 2006, have a variable interest rate that is adjusted once each year on July 1.

Federal PLUS Loans borrowed through the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) with a first disbursement on or after July 1, 2006, have a fixed rate equal to 8.5%. PLUS Loans first disbursed prior to July 1, 2006, have variable rates that are adjusted once each year on July 1.

Federal Consolidation Loans have a fixed interest rate that was established at the time the loan was borrowed.

You can find the current interest rates for all Access Group loans on our Web site in My Account.

You can pay more than the required minimum on any federal student loan at any time. This is typically referred to as making a “prepayment.” This will allow you to target those extra payments at your debt with the highest interest rate(s). When you prepay on a loan you need to inform the loan holder/servicer which of your loans is to be prepaid. Note that on federal student loans, prepayments must first be applied to any outstanding interest or other charges before loan principal can be reduced.

Federal Consolidation Loans have a fixed interest rate that was established at the time the loan was borrowed.

You can find the current interest rates for all Access Group loans on our Web site in My Account.

During deferment of federal student loans, interest is subsidized (paid by the government) on any loans that were subsidized during the in-school period. Interest will accrue on any unsubsidized loans. You can pay the interest on the unsubsidized loan(s) as it accrues or let it accrue during the deferment period. Any unpaid interest will be capitalized (added to the principal loan balance) at the end of the deferment.



During forbearance, interest accrues on all loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized). You can pay the interest as it accrues or let it accrue during the forbearance period. Any unpaid interest will be capitalized (added to the principal loan balance) at the end of the forbearance.

You can see how much interest has accrued on your loans by clicking the My Account tab and then the “see details” link next to each loan in the “Loans” table.

While you are in school or in grace, you will also receive quarterly interest letter that will list the accrued interest.

Generally, unpaid accrued interest is added to the principle at the end of the grace period prior to entering repayment and at the end of periods of deferment/forbearance.