Aspire Student Loans: How to Track Down and Manage Your Debt

If you think you have an Aspire student loan but aren’t quite sure, you aren’t alone.

We’ll explain the confusing story of how Aspire Resources is connected to Iowa Student Loan and how to make your student loan payments if you have debt that was serviced by Aspire.

What’s the deal with Aspire student loans? Repaying student loans serviced by Aspire Aspire resources during repayment Aspire contact information What’s the deal with Aspire student loans?

It all started with Iowa Student Loan, a nonprofit organization that’s been around since 1979. In 2001, it launched a for-profit subsidiary called Aspire Resources.

Then, in 2012, Aspire Resources received a Department of Education contract to handle 200,000 federal student loans.

Aspire student loans consistently received good reviews — and it still has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.

But, only a few years into its contract, Iowa Student Loan announced that Aspire Resources would no longer service federal loans.

“We recently decided to exit the Direct Loan servicing business due to the heavy cost burden of maintaining this federal contract,” Steve McCullough, Iowa Student Loan president and CEO, said in an August 2015 press release. “Revenue from the contract is primarily driven by the number of accounts being serviced and the number of accounts allotted to Aspire, including future projections, simply was not enough to generate the revenue needed to offset the costs.”

Following the announcement, Aspire Resources transferred all its federal Direct Loans to the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA).

So, if you had Aspire Direct Loans, you should contact MOHELA with any questions — because, as part of the transfer, Aspire Resources scrubbed its data about prior borrowers.

So what does Aspire Resources do now?

That doesn’t mean Aspire student loans shut down, though.

Today, the company “performs functions outside of Iowa Student Loan’s tax-exempt designation by providing services to employers, lenders, secondary markets and postsecondary institutions,” according to its site.

In other words, it’s more of a business-to-business arm of the company — one you probably won’t need to deal with.

Repaying student loans serviced by Aspire

The platform you do need to know about, though, is the Aspire Servicing Center. Whether you have an Iowa Student Loan payment to make or have additional loans, you’ll use the Aspire Servicing Center to manage them.

The Aspire Servicing Center provides customer service to people who’ve taken out private loans with Iowa Student Loan or had federal loans originally serviced by Iowa Student Loan. Aspire student loans for college are also offered and managed for partner lenders Alliant Credit Union, Ascentra Credit Union or American State Bank.

Aspire student loan repayment options

To pay your private loans through the Aspire Servicing Center, here are your options:

Standard repayment: Make monthly payments for a set repayment term. With this plan, you’ll pay the least interest. Graduated repayment: Your payments will be lower to begin with, then increase every two years — before you pay them off in 10 years or less. You’ll pay more in interest over the lifetime of the loan. Select 2: This plan allows you to make payments that are limited to mostly interest for the first two years. But, as with graduated repayment, you’ll end up paying more in interest in the long run.

If you’re struggling to figure out the right plan for your Aspire payment, phone the servicing center at 800-243-7552.

If you have federal student loans serviced by Aspire, log into your Federal Student Aid account at studentaid.gov — the Loan Simulator tool can help you choose a repayment plan. There are eight federal repayment plan options available.

Making student loan payments to Aspire

The easiest way to pay your loans through the Aspire Servicing Center is by creating an online account. Your Aspire student loan login will allow you to make payments and otherwise manage your debt.

You’ll need to provide your name and Social Security number, and then create a username, password and security questions.

Besides accepting only payments, the private loan servicer also takes payments submitted through snail-mail and over the phone.

Aspire resources during repayment

Aspire resources includes a student loan advocate who could walk you through these programs over the phone.

Deferment and forbearance

If you’re struggling to make your payments, there are additional Aspire resources on deferment or forbearance.

Aspire student loans from private lenders are eligible for such a payment postponement on a case-by-case basis. Aspire Servicing Center recommends on its website that you reach out if you have difficulty making your next payment.

For federal loans serviced by Aspire, your options are more expansive. With a deferment, you can pause your payments for up to three years. Here are some of the reasons you might qualify:

You’re enrolled in school at least half-time. You’re unemployed or suffering economic hardship. You’re serving in the military or Peace Corps. You have a Parent PLUS loan and a dependent in school. You’re in a rehabilitation training or graduate fellowship.

If you don’t qualify for deferment, you can look into forbearance, which pauses your payments for up to 12 months. Here are some situations that might make you eligible:

Your monthly payment is at least 20% of your total monthly income. You’ve lost your job or are experiencing a temporary financial difficulty. You live in an area experiencing an emergency. You’re serving in the National Guard or Americorps. You’re completing a medical or dental residency.

Note that unsubsidized loans will accrue interest while in deferment, and all loans will accrue interest in forbearance. That means your loan balance might be substantially higher when you start paying again.

Aspire loan consolidation

The Aspire Servicing Center doesn’t directly offer consolidation for either federal or private loans.

With that said, Aspire student loan consolidation in possible in two ways:

Direct Consolidation Loan: You could look to consolidate your Aspire-serviced federal loans into one new federal debt with the loan servicer of your choice. Your overall interest rate wouldn’t decrease, but you would hang onto government-exclusive protections like income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. Student loan refinancing: You could refinance your Aspire-serviced federal or private loans into one new private debt with the lender of your choice. If you’re creditworthy, you could qualify for a lower interest rate or monthly payment. On the downside, refinancing federal loans would strip them of perks like IDR.

If you’re considering refinancing your Aspire student loans, you can request a payoff amount, by calling the servicing center at 800-243-7552.

Aspire student loan forgiveness

If you’re seeking information about Aspire student loan forgiveness or repayment assistance, keep in mind that there are few programs available for private loans. There are, however, many loan forgiveness programs to consider for federal borrowers.

Aspire student loan assistance for military personnel

While not offering military student loan forgiveness per se, Aspire Servicing Center does participate in programs that help soldiers with student debt.

Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), for example, the maximum interest rate you can be charged is 6.00%.

And, under the Armed Forces Interest Reduction Program, you could have interest on your private student loans reduced to 0.00% for up to 24 months. To qualify, you must be on active duty, have a non-defaulted private student loan and be deployed before June 30, 2021.

Aspire contact information

If you need to call the Aspire Servicing Center, see which Aspire loans phone number fits your needs.

If you’d prefer to reach Aspire via email, you can do so using its contact form.

For general correspondence, or to submit forms, use the following address:

Aspire Servicing Center P.O. Box 659705 West Des Moines, IA 50265-0970

Andrew Pentis contributed to this report.

The post Aspire Student Loans: How to Track Down and Manage Your Debt appeared first on Student Loan Hero.