To view your federal student loans, log into StudentAid.gov with a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID. Every federal loan you’ve ever received is tracked in a single U.S. Department of Education database, and the site displays each one for free: balances, interest rates, loan status, and the name of the servicer currently handling the account. Setting up access takes about ten minutes, though identity verification can add up to three days. Private loans from banks or lenders won’t appear there, so if you borrowed outside the federal system you’ll need to check your credit report instead.
Set Up Your FSA ID
The FSA ID is a username and password that also functions as your legal electronic signature for federal aid documents. You create one at StudentAid.gov by entering your full legal name exactly as it appears on government records, your Social Security number, date of birth, and an email address or phone number for two-factor authentication.
The system verifies your identity against Social Security Administration records. That step can clear in a few minutes or take up to three days, and until it finishes you won’t have full access to your loan data. Use a personal email address rather than a school-issued one. School emails often get deactivated after graduation, which can lock you out at exactly the moment you need in.
If you don’t have a Social Security number, the process is different. The Department of Education has been building an automated identity verification system for borrowers without an SSN, with broader implementation planned for the 2026–27 FAFSA cycle. In the meantime, the account creation flow includes an attestation step where you certify you don’t have an SSN, and the system may attempt verification through TransUnion before letting you proceed.
What the Dashboard Shows
Once you’re logged in, the dashboard opens with a summary: total outstanding balance, principal versus accrued interest, and the status of any pending forgiveness or discharge applications. The “My Aid” page goes deeper, organizing every loan by school and disbursement year so you can trace where each debt came from.
For each individual loan, you’ll see the loan type (Direct Subsidized, Direct Unsubsidized, PLUS, and so on), the disbursement amount, the current balance, the fixed interest rate, the loan status, and the name and contact information of your current servicer. Repayment progress is shown visually for each loan.
The data comes from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), the centralized federal database established by the Higher Education Act of 1965 to track every disbursement and payment on federal student aid.1FSA Partners. Higher Education Act of 1965 Table of Contents On StudentAid.gov, the borrower-facing version of this system is simply called “My Aid.”
Download a Copy of Your Records
If you want a machine-readable record of everything on file, use the “My Aid Data” option on the My Aid page. The plain text download includes loans, grants, overpayments, enrollment history, and contact information.2FSA Partner Connect. Download My Aid Data File Layout It’s useful for keeping an offline backup or sharing your file with a financial advisor. This feature was previously called “MyStudentData Download” on the older NSLDS Student Access site.
How to Read Your Loan Details
The numbers on your dashboard tell a story worth reading carefully. Your principal balance is what was originally borrowed; your current balance includes any interest that has capitalized onto the principal. The interest rate on each loan is fixed for the life of that loan and set by federal law, not by the Department of Education.3Federal Student Aid. Federal Interest Rates and Fees Rates change each academic year for newly disbursed loans, so if you borrowed across multiple years, check each loan individually rather than assuming a single rate applies to all of them.
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized
On a subsidized loan, the government pays the interest while you’re enrolled at least half-time and during your grace period. On an unsubsidized loan, interest starts accruing the moment the money is disbursed, even while you’re still in school.3Federal Student Aid. Federal Interest Rates and Fees If you don’t pay that interest as it accrues, it capitalizes onto your principal, and you start paying interest on interest. That’s how a $20,000 unsubsidized loan quietly becomes $24,000 by graduation.
Loan Status Codes
Each loan carries a status label that tells you what the Department of Education currently expects from you:
- In Repayment. You’re expected to make monthly payments now.
- In Grace Period. You recently left school or dropped below half-time enrollment. For most federal loans this is a six-month window before payments begin. The grace period is day-specific: it starts the day after you leave school and doesn’t get used up by short breaks in enrollment.4Federal Student Aid. Grace Periods, Deferment, and Forbearance in Detail
- Deferment. Payments are temporarily paused, typically because you returned to school, entered military service, or met another qualifying condition.
- Forbearance. Payments are paused or reduced, usually due to financial hardship. Interest still accrues on all loan types during forbearance.
- In Default. You’ve missed payments for at least 270 days.5Federal Student Aid. Student Loan Default and Collections FAQs
Your Servicer Appears Next to Each Loan
Your servicer is the company that handles day-to-day management: processing payments, changing repayment plans, and answering questions. The Department of Education owns the debt, but private companies run the operations. The servicer’s name and contact information appear directly on your dashboard next to each loan.
As of late 2025, the active federal loan servicers include MOHELA, Nelnet, Edfinancial Services, Aidvantage (operated by Maximus Education), and Central Research, Inc.6Department of Education. Title IV Additional Servicers and Not For Profit Servicers Specialty servicers also handle specific portfolios, such as PHEAA for certain legacy accounts and ECSI for Perkins Loans. Your servicer may not be the one you dealt with last year, because the Department reassigns loans between servicers periodically. StudentAid.gov always reflects the current assignment, so it’s the reliable place to check.
Each servicer runs its own web portal for payments, repayment plan changes, and deferment or forbearance requests. You’ll need a separate account with the servicer using your Social Security number or the account number shown on your federal dashboard. Servicer portals often provide more detailed billing statements and payment history than StudentAid.gov, so it’s worth setting up both.
Older Loans That May Look Missing
Most Direct Loans appear on the dashboard without issue. If you borrowed before 2010, you may have Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans originally held by a bank or guaranty agency, or Perkins Loans held by your school. These are still federal loans, the NSLDS tracks them, and they should appear on your dashboard, though the servicer listed may differ from the companies handling Direct Loans. If an older loan doesn’t appear and you believe it should, contact the FSA Ombudsman or call 1-800-433-3243.
Private Loans Won’t Be There
StudentAid.gov only tracks loans made or guaranteed by the federal government. Loans from a bank, credit union, or private lender like Sallie Mae or Earnest are invisible on the federal dashboard. To find them, pull your credit report.
You’re entitled to a free credit report every 12 months from each of the three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion), and free weekly reports are currently available online. Request them through AnnualCreditReport.com, the only site authorized by federal law for this purpose. Private student lenders typically report to the credit bureaus even while you’re still in school or in deferment, so outstanding private loans should show up with the lender’s name and current balance.7Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Find Out Information About My Student Loans If you’re unsure whether a loan on your credit report is federal or private, check your StudentAid.gov dashboard. If it’s there, it’s federal. If it’s not, it’s almost certainly private.
If Your Records Look Wrong
Errors happen: incorrect balances, misapplied payments, wrong loan statuses. Start with your servicer. Contact them directly with your account number, a description of the error, and supporting documentation (payment receipts, bank statements, correspondence). Put it in writing so you have a record.
If the servicer doesn’t resolve the problem, escalate to the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman. The Ombudsman’s office is designed as a last resort after you’ve already tried working through your servicer.8FSA Partner Connect. Office of the Ombudsman FSA Before contacting them, be ready to identify the specific problem, explain what you’ve already done to fix it, describe the outcome you want, and provide supporting documents. The easiest way to file is online at StudentAid.gov’s feedback center, though you can also reach them by phone at 1-800-433-3243 or by mail. If the error is showing up on your credit report, you can also dispute it directly with the credit bureau, which must investigate and respond within 30 days under federal law.