Nelnet: The Servicer of Student Loans That Touches Millions of Americans
Crawling through the Byzantine maze of student loans can seem like an impossibility, and Nelnet is one of the principal gatekeepers in the way. One of the largest US student loan servicers, Nelnet has an immense influence in the lives of millions of borrowers but is mostly unknown to all, with barely anyone having heard about this finance company and what it does. What Is Nelnet? Nelnet was founded in 1978 in Lincoln, Nebraska, as a small loan collection company and has evolved into a diversified financial services holding company. Today, Nelnet is traded on the NYSE (symbol: NNI) and has expanded well beyond its initial purpose. While student loan servicing remains a significant part of Nelnet’s business model, the company has branched out into education technology, payment processing, telecommunications, and even renewable energy investment. As a servicer of federal student loans, Nelnet manages loan repayment for millions of borrowers on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. That is, they disburse payments, process customer service inquiries, aid borrowers in making repayment options, and resolve issues that arise along the way during the process of loan repayment. The Student Loan Servicing Landscape To understand how Nelnet works in the student loan universe, one needs to learn about the federal student loan servicing system. The Education Department contracts out to several private companies the daily servicing of federal student loans. Other large servicers besides Nelnet are Aidvantage (formerly Navient), MOHELA, and HESC/EdFinancial. Nelnet acquired another giant loan servicer, Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, in 2018, greatly increasing its portfolio. The purchase combined one of the largest student loan servicing firms in the country, with the combined firm servicing loans on behalf of around 15 million borrowers—around 40% of all federal student loan borrowers. How Nelnet Impacts Borrowers For students, Nelnet typically is the single point of contact for the entire student loan repayment experience. The servicer’s reach touches numerous points of contact: Account Management Borrowers with loans serviced by Nelnet visit the company’s website or mobile application to review account information, make payments, and review loan details. The nature of the user experience on such sites can accomplish a great deal of dictating how easily borrowers can deal with their loans. Payment Processing Nelnet accepts payments, makes them a payment record against the borrowers’ account, and gives payment confirmation. Speed of procedure and efficiency are essential for the borrowers struggling to keep current with loans. Customer Service Borrowers who require assistance or encounter problems with loans make contact with the customer service officers at Nelnet. Information delivered and precision play an influential role in guiding the financial decision-making of the borrowers. Repayment Plan Enrollment Nelnet helps borrowers understand the various federal student loan repayment plans, including income-driven plans, that can dramatically reduce monthly payments for eligible borrowers. Loan Forgiveness Programs borrowers who apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or other forgiveness incentives are informed by and have their necessary paperwork handled by Nelnet, which can affect borrowers’ eligibility for such programs. The Borrower Experience: Mixed Reviews My first interactions with Nelnet began shortly after college graduation when I learned they would be servicing my federal student loans. Like many graduates, I was uncertain about how to repay and had contacted https://nelnet.studentaid.gov/Nelnet’s customer service for guidance. The individual I had spoken to was courteous but provided me with incomplete information regarding income-driven repayment plans that I later discovered was incomplete, which nearly caused me to miss a very important annual recertification deadline. This is not uncommon. Borrower experiences with Nelnet are highly diversified, as some of its mixed consumer reviews will show. There are those borrowers that have positive experiences and say they had nice customer service people. There are also those who have bad experiences and say there were misapplied payments, could not get right information, and wasteful navigation of payment options. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group have been hearing complaints against Nelnet since the company started operations. The majority of these are: Error in payment processing Problems in enrolling or re-certifying income-driven repayment plans Inadequate or incorrect information from customer representatives Problems with loans being transferred to other servicers Problems in credit reporting Those problems aren’t unique to Nelnet—the whole student loan servicing industry has been guilty of having the same types of issues. The Department of Education Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office have both identified shortcomings in loan servicer oversight and performance in published reports. Navigating the Regulatory Landscape Servicers like Nelnet have become increasingly subject to regulatory scrutiny over recent years. State attorneys general have sued servicers for various consumer protection abuses. While avoiding some of the more salacious court battles that have beleaguered rivals like Navient, the company operates in an ever more complicated regulatory environment. The Biden administration signaled a more aggressive servicer regulatory agenda, with servicer contract and performance requirements altered. The alterations will improve customer service, become more transparent, and make loan servicers more accountable. Also, the Department of Education is building and rolling out its Next Generation Financial Services Environment (NextGen), a back-end overhaul of the federal student loan servicing program. This effort will probably change Nelnet’s role in the universe of federal student loans sooner rather than later. Beyond Loan Servicing: Nelnet’s Diversification As one method of lessening regulatory risk and diversifying revenues, Nelnet has diversified aggressively. Operating segments of the company now consist of: Nelnet Business Services (NBS) NBS provides payment processing, financial management, and administrative services to healthcare organizations, K-12 schools, and colleges and universities. NBS has been successful because schools and colleges have increasingly outsourced these services. Nelnet Diversified Solutions (NDS) This segment contains student loan servicing operations but has business process outsourcing and software development capabilities. Nelnet Communications Services One of the newer segments, this one focuses on telecommunications services, like fiber internet infrastructure, rural specifically. ALLO Communications Nelnet has a minority ownership interest in this telecommunications firm, which provides internet, phone, and TV service in several Midwestern … Read more