Great Lakes Higher Education: An Overview
Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation & Affiliates has played a significant role in the landscape of higher education in the United States for over five decades. Since 1967, the organization has evolved alongside the student loan industry, remaining committed to supporting students and families in their pursuit of higher education. This article aims to provide an overview of Great Lakes Higher Education, its history, services, and recent changes.
Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation & Affiliates: A Historical Perspective
Founded in 1967, Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation & Affiliates has been dedicated to making higher education accessible, simplifying the financial aid process, and making the possibility of paying for college a reality for many. The organization values students, school representatives, partners, and employees, believing that by doing the right thing, lives can be changed for the better.
Great Lakes has partnered with the U.S. Department of Education, more than 6,000 schools, and 1,100 lenders nationwide. The organization seeks innovation and supports grassroots efforts to find "the next big thing" in higher education. It also looks to expand existing programs that are proven to work.
Services and Support Provided
Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation & Affiliates provided a range of services to support students and institutions. These services included:
- Loan Management and Borrower Support: Great Lakes Educational Loan Services provided loan management and borrower support services for more than 50 years. It oversaw billing and answered borrowers’ questions about their student loan accounts. Great Lakes borrowers could also submit requests to the servicer for income-driven repayment plans and turn to them for their student loan records.
- Financial Aid Process Simplification: Great Lakes aimed to make the financial aid process simpler for students and families.
- Grant Funding: The organization provides grants to learn more about ideas and approaches that hold promise for helping more students complete college. Potential grants are considered for programs that improve completion rates, impact a significant number of students, and have potential on a larger scale. Grants are also awarded to researchers who rigorously evaluate a program and determine if the program is as effective as preliminary data suggests or if already proven effective, can it be as successful in another location. Grants also pave the way to lasting change. The grant is open to nonprofit institutions of higher education in Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, including two-year and four-year colleges and universities.
Acquisition by Nelnet and Transfer of Loan Servicing
In February 2018, Great Lakes was acquired by Nelnet Diversified Solutions, LLC, the parent company of Nelnet Federal Student Loan Services. In the summer of 2023, Great Lakes’ student loan servicing portfolio was transferred to Nelnet Federal Student Loan Services.
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Nelnet Federal Student Loan Services has been in the loan servicing industry for decades, helping 15 million borrowers with managing their federal education loans. Along with accepting loan payments on behalf of the Department of Education, it facilitates repayment plan requests and deferment and forbearance options.
The loan transferring from Great Lakes to Nelnet started in March 2022, and it was expected to continue through June 2023.
Repaying Loans After the Transfer
To repay student loans that were once with Great Lakes and are now with Nelnet, borrowers can pay:
- Online or by phone: Payments can be made over the phone by calling 888-486-4722 or online through your Nelnet.com account.
- Through your bank: Banks may offer online bill pay through their payment system. If using this payment method, you’ll need to identify Nelnet as the “payee” and provide your Nelnet account number, and the P.O. The initial letter of your account number determines the address you send payments.
Borrowers can also create special payment instructions on how they want their payments applied to their loan balance. A one-time payment instruction can be set up within your Nelnet.com account while making a payment, and recurring instructions can be set up for all future payments.
Outside of paying through Nelnet, borrowers can also access their Great Lakes borrower payment history by logging in to their Nelnet.com account and going to “Inbox” within the Documents menu.
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Contacting Nelnet for Assistance
If borrowers have concerns or questions about their student loans, they should contact Nelnet for assistance. Nelnet is the primary resource for previously serviced Great Lakes student loans. To contact Nelnet via phone, dial 888-486-4722. Along with basic contact information, include your account number or Social Security number to avoid response delays. Borrowers should’ve also received their new Nelnet account number.
Addressing Past Issues: Erroneous Credit Reporting
In the past, Great Lakes reported accounts in error during auto forbearance. Nearly 5 million borrowers whose federal student loans are serviced by Great Lakes may have seen their credit scores dip because their debts were erroneously reported to the major credit bureaus during the automatic six-month forbearance that began in March 2020.
Paused payments may have been reported as “deferred” due to a coding error. The paused payments should have been reported as if they had been made. If a borrower was current when forbearance began, for example, the status should be “current.”
Great Lakes worked with credit reporting agencies to correct the inaccuracies.
Ascendium Education Group: The Evolution of Great Lakes
Ascendium Education Group® is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that evolved from Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation & Affiliates. Ascendium is driven by the belief that learning after high school gives people the power to build better futures. Its national philanthropy focuses on increasing opportunities for learners from low-income backgrounds to achieve upward mobility through postsecondary education and workforce training. Ascendium partners with organizations whose objectives align with its core strategies to expand opportunity, support learner success, and connect and align systems.
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How to Complain About Issues
If you’ve had difficulty with Great Lakes that you have been unable to resolve, start by filing a complaint directly with a customer service representative. If your issue goes unresolved, you can also make complaints about Great Lakes to: Make sure to keep records of conversations you have, including the day, time and customer service representative you spoke with. This method should be used only as a last resort, says the federal student aid office.
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