{"id":29393,"date":"2019-01-30T17:08:19","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T22:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=29393"},"modified":"2023-06-01T12:03:10","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T16:03:10","slug":"how-to-manage-your-great-lakes-student-loans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/how-to-manage-your-great-lakes-student-loans\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Manage Your Great Lakes Student Loans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019ve taken out federal student loans to finance your education (like I did) and you have Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc.<\/b><\/a> as your loan servicer, you need to take stock of where you stand with respect to your loans and learn about your repayment options. This is critical if you want to put your best \u201cfinancial\u201d foot forward and be in control of your student loans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what you need to know to manage your Great Lakes student loans.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. What is Great Lakes?<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Department of Education is your lender, but federal loans are serviced by nine loan servicing organizations\/companies assigned to help the government manage the billing and other services for your loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great Lakes is one of the largest federal student loans servicer with headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. It is a nonprofit organization, and has been in the loan business since 1967. Great Lakes prides itself on \u201cdoing what\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to helping millions of students manage their loans, Great Lakes has \u201cinvested nearly $260 million in grants to our communities, to date,\u201d according to the Quick Facts<\/a> it makes available online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could have more than one loan servicer if you have multiple loans. To confirm, check with the National Student Loan Data System<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. What do you need to do to manage your Great Lakes loans?<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you haven\u2019t already set up an online account with Great Lakes, you should create one immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process is easy when you use its online platform MyGreatLakes<\/a>. To sign up for Account Access<\/a>, provide the required information, including your social security number and birthdate.<\/p>\n\n\n

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You can also create an account using Great Lakes’ mobile Android or iOs app. But reviews of the app on both Google Play<\/a> and App Store<\/a> are mixed: 3.9 stars for Android and 3 stars for iOS in January 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve set up an account, or if you already have an online account, you can log in<\/a> to manage your account.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Great Lakes’ online portal gives you all the tools you need to review and manage your account, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n