Student Loan Help
Student Loan Help
Student Loan Help
Federal student loans are confusing, and the paperwork only gets harder to face the longer it sits. You do not have to work through it by yourself, and you should never pay anyone to help you with it.
You don’t have to figure this out alone
Delta College has teamed up with Inceptia, a nonprofit organization, to give our students and graduates free one-on-one help with federal student loans. A real person will help you track down your loans, make sense of what you’re looking at, compare your repayment options, and stay ahead of the deadlines that matter.
This is not a sales call and there is nothing to sign up for. Whether your payments haven’t started yet, you’ve fallen behind, or your loans are already in default, there is a way forward and someone to walk it with you.
Every tool, phone number, and program linked on this page is free. Never pay a company to manage your federal student loans, and never give anyone your StudentAid.gov password.
Where are you right now?
Pick the line that sounds like you. Each one goes straight to what to do next.
Payments haven’t started, or I’m current
The best time to pick an affordable payment is before you need one.
Find a payment you can afford →I’ve missed one or more payments
You have the most options right now, and they get fewer the longer you wait.
Act before day 270 →My loans are already in default
You can apply online to get out of default. There is a new federal tool for exactly this.
Get out of default →The 270-day clock
A missed payment does not put you in default right away. Most federal student loans default after about 270 days without a payment — roughly nine months. Every stage below is easier and cheaper to fix than the one after it.
Payment due
Paid on time, or in an approved deferment or forbearance. Nothing happens.
Delinquent
Late fees may apply and the missed payments can be reported to credit bureaus. Your servicer can still change your plan or pause payments. This is the cheapest place to fix it.
Default
The entire unpaid balance becomes due at once. You lose eligibility for new federal student aid, and for most income-driven repayment plans until the default is resolved.
Collections
The government can withhold part of your wages, your federal tax refund, or your Social Security benefits. Default can also make you ineligible for FHA, VA, and SBA loans.
About the current collections pause
The Department of Education has paused some involuntary collection activity — administrative wage garnishment and Treasury offset of federal tax refunds — on the defaulted loans it holds, while it updates its repayment systems. There is no announced end date, the pause has already been changed more than once, and it may not cover loans held by a guaranty agency instead of the Department.
Nothing else about a default is paused. The full balance is still due. You still cannot receive new federal student aid. Interest and collection costs keep adding up, and the default stays on your credit report until you resolve it. Check studentaid.gov/default-support for what applies to your loans today.
Find out exactly what you owe, and to whom
You cannot fix what you cannot see. Almost every borrower we talk to is surprised by at least one thing on this list.
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Log in to your StudentAid.gov account
Your dashboard shows every federal loan in your name: current balance, interest rate, repayment status, payment history, and which company services each loan. Go to StudentAid.gov
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Update your phone number, email, and mailing address
This is the single most common reason borrowers end up in default: the notices went to an old address. Your servicer cannot offer you a lower payment if it cannot reach you.
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Identify your loan servicer and contact them directly
Your servicer — not Delta College, and not the Department of Education — is who changes your payment, approves a pause, and takes your money. Help finding your student loans
Federal loan servicer directory — all eight servicers, with websites
If you already know your servicer’s name or the acronym shown on your StudentAid.gov dashboard, find it here. If you don’t, log in to StudentAid.gov instead — it names your servicer for you, and it is always current.
| Servicer | Shown as | Location | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Educational Computer Systems, Inc. | DOEDPerkins | Warrendale, PA | borrowerefpls.ed.gov |
| Oklahoma Student Loan Authority | NFPOSLA | Oklahoma City, OK | okhelp.org |
| Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency | PHCS | Harrisburg, PA | pheaa.org |
| Central Research, Inc. | USDS-CRI | Lincoln, NE | cri.studentaid.gov |
| Edfinancial Services | USDS-EDFinancial | Knoxville, TN | edfinancial.studentaid.gov |
| Maximus Education LLC, dba Aidvantage | USDS-MaxEDADVS | Reston, VA | aidvantage.studentaid.gov |
| Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority | USDS-MOHELA | Chesterfield, MO | mohela.studentaid.gov |
| Nelnet, Inc. | USDS-Nelnet | Lincoln, NE | nelnet.studentaid.gov |
Get a payment you can actually afford
The standard 10-year payment is not your only option, and it is not the one most borrowers should be on. Federal loans come with plans that set your payment from your income and family size instead of your balance.
Run the numbers yourself first — free, no signup
The Department of Education’s Loan Simulator shows what you would pay under every plan you qualify for, side by side, before you commit to anything. It takes a few minutes and it is the honest answer for your situation, not a general estimate.
What to ask about
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Income-driven repayment
Your monthly payment is based on what you earn and how many people are in your household. Borrowers with low income relative to their family size can qualify for very small payments, and in some cases a payment of zero — while still staying in good standing on the loan.
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Deferment or forbearance
A short, approved pause for unemployment, economic hardship, active duty, or returning to school. Ask two questions before you accept one: how long it lasts, and whether interest keeps adding up while payments are paused.
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Whether you qualify for a discharge or forgiveness program
Public service employment, total and permanent disability, and school closure each have their own programs with their own rules. Ask your servicer rather than assuming you don’t qualify.
Repayment plans are changing in 2026 — check before you assume
Recent federal law is phasing out several long-standing income-driven plans, including Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR), and SAVE, and replacing them with new options. If you read about a plan on an older page, or a friend tells you what they pay, confirm it against the Loan Simulator or with your servicer before you count on it.
If you’re behind, call this week
Being past due is not a moral failure and it is not a lost cause. Servicers change payment amounts and approve pauses every day — but nearly all of it has to be asked for. Nothing happens automatically.
What to say when you call your servicer
You don’t need to explain your whole situation. These four questions get you what you need:
- “How many days past due am I, and is my loan in default?”
- “I can’t afford my current payment. Which repayment plans am I eligible for, and what would each one cost me per month?”
- “Do I qualify for a deferment or forbearance, and will interest keep adding up if I take one?”
- “What is the earliest date a new payment amount can take effect, and what do I need to send you?”
Write down who you spoke with and the date. If you are told to submit an application, ask for the deadline and confirm it was received. If you would rather not make that call alone, the free help at the top of this page is there for exactly this.
Do not wait for a collection notice to act
Once a loan reaches default, the whole balance comes due, most income-driven plans close to you, and you cannot receive new federal student aid. Everything on this page is significantly easier to do before that point than after it.
Already in default? Here is the way out
Default is not permanent, and getting out of it no longer means mailing and faxing paperwork. As of September 2026, the Department of Education runs a single online Defaulted Loans Support Center where you can compare your options, apply, upload documents, sign electronically, make payments, and track your progress.
Go to the Defaulted Loans Support Center
studentaid.gov/default-support — the official federal site. Free.
Loan rehabilitation
You agree to a series of monthly payments based on what you can afford. Complete them and the loan returns to good standing.
- Typical length
- About nine monthly payments over ten months
- Credit report
- The default is removed from your credit report
- Limit
- Most loans can be rehabilitated only once
Loan consolidation
Your defaulted loans are combined into one new Direct Consolidation Loan, which starts out of default.
- Typical length
- Faster than rehabilitation
- Credit report
- The default stays in your credit history
- Note
- Enrolling in automatic payments can reduce your interest rate
Pay the balance
You can pay the defaulted balance in full, or make payments toward it directly through the support center.
- Typical length
- Immediate once paid in full
- Credit report
- The default stays in your credit history
- Note
- Ask what the full payoff amount includes before you pay
What resolving the default gives you back
Eligibility for new federal student aid if you want to finish or continue your education. Access to income-driven repayment plans. An end to wage, tax refund, and benefit withholding. Eligibility for FHA, VA, and SBA loans. And a payment set by what you earn instead of a balance that came due all at once.
Your campus financial aid office
We cannot make payments or decisions on your behalf, but we can help you find your loans, understand what you are reading, and work out which option fits. Call the campus you attended, or get free one-on-one help from Inceptia.
Never pay a company to manage your federal student loans
Everything described on this page — the Loan Simulator, the Defaulted Loans Support Center, rehabilitation, consolidation, changing your repayment plan, Inceptia, and your campus financial aid office — is free. Companies that charge a fee to “handle” or “settle” your federal loans are selling you something you can do yourself at no cost, and some of them are not legitimate. Never give your StudentAid.gov username and password to anyone.
Baton Rouge North
7380 Exchange Place, Baton Rouge, LA 70806
Meagan Jarreau, Director225-928-7770
Baton Rouge South
10525 Plaza Americana Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70816
Lola Ritchie, Director225-926-5820
Lafayette
200 Republic Avenue, Lafayette, LA 70508
Chad Fuller, Director337-988-5455
Covington
19231 N. 6th Street, Covington, LA 70433
Brittani DeoGracias, Director985-892-6651
Slidell
105 Gause Blvd W., Slidell, LA 70460
Brian DeoGracias, Director985-643-7730
Lake Charles
2948 Ryan Street, Lake Charles, LA 70601
Lydia Fink, Director337-477-9265
Questions borrowers ask us most
When exactly does my loan go into default?
For most federal student loans, after about 270 days without a payment. You are considered delinquent the day after you miss a payment, and your servicer can report that to credit bureaus long before default. The specific timeline for your loan type is on StudentAid.gov.
Does Delta College handle my loan payments?
No. Your federal loan servicer holds your account, takes your payments, and approves changes to your plan. We can help you identify your servicer and understand your options, and our partnership with Inceptia gives you free one-on-one guidance — but the decisions and the paperwork go through your servicer or StudentAid.gov.
Can I get financial aid again if my loans are in default?
Not while the loans are in default. Resolving the default through rehabilitation, consolidation, or payment in full restores your eligibility for federal student aid, which matters if you want to finish a program or come back for another one.
What is the real difference between rehabilitation and consolidation?
Both get you out of default. Rehabilitation takes longer — generally about nine payments over ten months — but it removes the default from your credit report, and most loans can only be rehabilitated once. Consolidation is faster, but the default remains part of your credit history. Compare both in the Defaulted Loans Support Center before choosing.
I have no idea who my servicer is, or how much I owe.
That is extremely common and it is a ten-minute fix. Log in at StudentAid.gov with your FSA ID and your dashboard lists every federal loan in your name and who services it. If you cannot get logged in, call your campus financial aid office and we will sit with you.
I heard collections are paused. Can I ignore this?
Partly paused, and not permanently. The Department of Education has paused administrative wage garnishment and Treasury offset of tax refunds on the defaulted loans it holds, and has not announced a restart date. But that pause has been changed before, the legal authority behind those tools is untouched, and it may not cover a loan held by a guaranty agency rather than the Department.
Meanwhile, nothing else about the default has paused: the full balance is due, you cannot receive new federal student aid, interest and collection costs keep accruing, and the default remains on your credit report. Treat it as a window to fix the loan, not a reason to wait. Confirm the current status for your own loans at studentaid.gov/default-support.
Is any part of this going to cost me money?
No. The Loan Simulator, the Defaulted Loans Support Center, changing your repayment plan, applying for rehabilitation or consolidation, Inceptia’s guidance, and talking to your campus financial aid office are all free.
Take the Next Step Toward Your Future
Take the next step toward a rewarding career with Delta College. Explore our programs, learn about financial aid, and hear from our successful graduates.