Student loan servicers cut customer service hours ahead of payment restart
Katie Lobosco
April 30, 2023
Some student loan servicers have recently cut back on customer service hours, adding to the fear that borrowers won’t have sufficient support when transitioning back into repayment after a more than three-year pandemic pause.
There was already concern over whether the critical return to repayment set for later this year would go smoothly after Congress appropriated the Federal Student Aid office about $800 million less than what the Biden administration had asked for this year. The office contracts with several outside organizations to handle the billing and other services on federal student loans.
EdFinancial Services, Aidvantage and MOHELA have reduced the number of hours during which a borrower can reach a customer service representative on the phone, according to CNN’s review of earlier versions of the companies’ websites. None of those three servicers currently have Saturday hours.
