How to Make a Payment for a Stafford Educational Loan

The federal government offers Stafford educational loans to many students who are pursuing higher education. When you borrow the money, you usually don't receive much information about how to make payments. However, you can make payments on your loan at any time. About six months after you drop below half-time enrollment in school, you will have to start making regular monthly payments in addition to any voluntary payments you have been sending. The process for making payments is fairly easy once you know where to send them.

Instructions

1

Find out the name of the company that services your Stafford loan. This is the U.S. Department of Education for most Direct Stafford loans issued recently, but older loans might be serviced by different companies. You can look up the information at the National Student Loan Data System website.

2

Go to the website of the company that services your Stafford loan. Log in using the requested personal information to make a payment online.

3

Enter your bank account number to make a payment from your checking account. You usually need the routing number and account number, both of which appear at the bottom of your checks.

4

Look around the website to find the mailing address for the billing department to send a payment by check.

5

Write a check for your payment amount. Make sure your name and address appear on the check. Mail it to the address you found on the website.

6

Call the Stafford loan servicing company if you are having trouble finding the mailing address on the website or have problems logging in to make a payment online. The customer service representative can provide the required information to complete the payment process.