The Federal Student Aid (FSA) Website
This is the Department of Education’s website designed to provide information to federal student loan borrowers. This web-based resource provides you with access to the details of your federal student loans as well as information about understanding financial aid, applying for aid, and managing loan repayment.
Getting Started
- Go to studentaid.gov.
- Login to your FSA account with your email, phone, or FSA ID Username and password.
- Accept the terms.
- View the details of your loans.
What Will You See?
Within your Federal Student Aid account, you will see your loan balance, the types of outstanding loans you have, who your servicer is, when payments are due, and other details about your loans. In addition to the account with FSA, we also recommend setting up an account on your servicer’s website. From your servicer’s website, you will be able to see your specific account information.
Since federal loan borrowers may have more than one servicer, it’s important to identify who the servicer is for each loan. Knowing if you will be working with one or more servicers is helpful when it’s time to repay your student loans.
Details You Should Know
There is a lot of information about your federal student loans within your Federal Student Aid account. Be sure to access this information prior to graduation so that you can be prepared to successfully manage your loans. Below are six pieces of information that will be critical to know as you prepare to manage your debt:
- Loan Types (name).
- Loan Servicer(s).
- Disbursement Dates.
- Loan Balances.
- Loan Statuses.
- Repayment Due Dates.
Knowing how to access this information is helpful so that you can keep tabs on your total loan balance, the amount of outstanding interest for each loan, and when it’s time to send in a payment (or set up autopay), you’ll know who to contact for assistance.
What Won’t You See in Your Federal Student Aid Account?
- Details on private or institutional loans will not be found in your FSA account. To find the details of these loans you’ll want to review your credit report or reach out to the lender of the loan.
- Loans for Disadvantages Students (LDS) and Primary Care Loans (PCL) are the only federal loans that will not be visible in your FSA account. For information and details about these loans, contact the financial aid staff at your school.
- Real-time account balances may not always be reflected in your FSA account. To obtain this information, contact your loan servicer(s).
What Does That Mean?
Borrowers can get confused about financial aid when they don’t understand all the terms and acronyms. Use the Federal Student Aid Glossary whenever you don’t understand a financial aid term.
If you need assistance with your federal student aid, contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center.
