NSLDS
If a student is inquiring about the school (but has not yet applied) and reveals that they may be in default on previous student loans can NSLDS be checked with their permission?
The student may access NSLDS for Students to obtain this information, but the school may not. The school may advise the student of this option if the student has concerns about their Title IV eligibility.
Having the prospective student log in to the NSLDS Student Access may be a great opportunity to educate them about managing their loans as well as assisting them in finding out if they are in default. If defaulted, we can teach the student where to find the contact information of the servicer/guarantor so they can begin resolving it.
Good point, Nancy! Students may access the site to obtain necessary information - thanks for pointing this out.
I would refer the student to check NSLDS to verify if he or she is in default.
The school can not check. But the student can go online and check this information.
I didn't know students were able to go online and check NSLDS. That would be great information for Financial Aid to have for students.
Students can go to www.nslds.ed.gov and click on Financial Aid Review. After clicking Accept on the next two screens, they will be prompted for their login information (the same info as the FAFSA). After logging in, they can view all of their loans, including the status, the principal amount, and the accrued interest. They can go deeper to see the servicer's contact information as well.
I understand that we can't check NSLDS at this time. To me I think NSLDS is like having your credit checked before taking out a loan. If a student is applying for school the school should be able to make sure the student isn't in default. Its not good if the student enrolls and then is told they can't attend because they are in default.
Unless the student has a relation with the school (ie. student is enrolled, has applied for admission or financial aid, or is a previously enrolled student) to be able to run NSLDS on the prospective student. I would inform her/him that they can use her pin# to access her student loan history by visiting the NSLDS on his/her own.
Eileen - Thanks for providing these details for students to access their informtion on nslds!
Often in a student's subsequent year repack, the student may have questions about the loans she has taken out so far. I show her how to log in to nslds.ed.gov, so that they can get a jumpstart on managing their loans.
Yes, this would be good. The student that is applying for school has the ablity to check the loans while they are in your office. At that time the student would know how the loan status is and at that time the student would know how to clear up any issues.
Default is by far the paramount issue concerning NSLDS, and when and by whom it can be checked. One of the other issues we see is that of overlaping loans. Not being able to check NSLDS prior to enrollment WITH the consent of the student, makes it difficult to determine what funding may look like at the school they are inquiring about, if some portion of their aid has disbursed to a prior institution. Again, not nearly the same impact as default, but it is another area where our hands become tied and we cannot offer the student the most accurate/up to date information regarding their aid. The student portal on NSLDS doesn't show their loan periods for prior funding at other schools, so we have to rely on the student to know the loan periods, which, unfortunately is not always something they are aware of (determining ovelap could make or break the student). It seems that student consent should trump relationship with the school. It also seems that it serves the student to know about overlapping loans and how their aid can be affected from one school to the next when overlapping loans are involved. Is anyone aware of why the specific restrictions to NSLDS are in place?
Students can access the NSLDS web site. We can provide that information to them.
The school cannot check a student's record in NSLDS unless it has "an existing relationship with the student". A relationship is considered to exit in the following instances: the student is currently enrolled at the school, the student has applied for admission at the school, the student has applied for financial aid at the school and/or the student was previously enrolled at the school.
The school would not be able to check NSLDS.
can students get on nslds, or is it fa only?
students have access to NSLDS too, just like Financial Aid staff.
Students can request a log in password from NSLDS and request status themselves. A contract with the school must be signed first by the student in order for an institution to inquire on their previous financial aid history.
