Have a student loan with American Education Services (AES)? Here’s what you need to know

American Education Services (AES) is a servicer of student loans, which means AES doesn’t issue loans, but manages them for lenders. AES was established by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEA), which is the nation’s second largest student loan servicer. AES services both private student loans and loans under the Federal Family Education Loan program. If you have a loan with AES, here’s what you need to know.

Related article: Here’s what you need to know about repayment options for private student loans

While AES is not a lender, if you receive letters or calls from AES about your student loans, they are the entity you’ll deal with to make payments, discuss any change in terms or challenges you may be having in making your payments. 

In the private loan marketplace, AES is one of the primary servicers for National Collegiate Trust (NCT). If your original lender sold your loan to NCT and it is being serviced by AES, you should have received a notice of this. Your credit report will reflect this change. 

What if I’m having trouble paying AES?

If you’re having financial challenges, it’s important to understand your repayment options. Because AES manages both federal and private loans, you’ll want to be clear on exactly the type of loan you have as that dictates your repayment options. If your loan is owned by NCT then it is private. If you are still unsure, though, you can log into the National Student Loan Database (NSLDS) to see if your loan is listed. 

“Since it will only show federal loans, you can use the process of elimination to find out which loans aren’t showing. If a loan doesn’t show up in the NSLDS database, nine times out of 10 it will be a private loan,” Andrew Weber, NACCC certified student loan counselor, wrote in an article on MyCreditCounselor.net. 

Review your financial situation before contacting AES

Next, review your financial situation. If you feel that your struggle to make your loan payments is temporary, you may want to contact AES to ask for a deferment or forbearance. 

If your finances will be limited for a long time and your AES managed loan is federal, you can refer to their website for repayment options. If it’s a private loan, your choices may be more limited. For the most part, you can only consider debt settlement or debt consolidation. (Private lenders do not offer repayment programs like those available for federal loans). What’s more, student loans are generally not included in Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases or debt management programs.