Independent profile — not affiliated with Nelnet
Nelnet
Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE: NNI), based in Lincoln, Nebraska, owns Nelnet Servicing, LLC, one of the servicers of federal student loans for the U.S. Department of Education; Nelnet's FY2025 annual report says it serviced $434.5 billion of Department loans for 11.4 million borrowers at December 31, 2025. Nelnet's own servicing site says a court order ended the SAVE repayment plan in March 2026 and that SAVE borrowers get a notice, by the end of 2026, starting a 90-day window to choose a new plan. State regulators resolved two matters without admissions: an August 7, 2026 Connecticut consent order ($25,000 civil penalty) over receiving payments on small loans without a Connecticut small-loan license, and a $1.8 million Massachusetts settlement announced in January 2024 over income-driven repayment notices sent between 2013 and 2017. Court matters include a 2022 data breach that ended in a $10 million class settlement, approved on May 21, 2026, for borrowers whose loans originated with EdFinancial or the Oklahoma Student Loan Authority (claim deadline March 5, 2026, passed), and a proposed $325,000 West Virginia class settlement over payment statements whose September 23, 2026 fairness-hearing outcome was not found in the sources checked on October 3, 2026. This page reports the CFPB, BBB, Trustpilot and ComplaintsBoard figures separately, notes 16 older complaints filed on this site (2003-2012), and gives the official routes to dispute, escalate or complain.
Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints
USAComplaints currently maintains 18 historical complaints about Nelnet, published between 2003 and 2012. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.
- Loan balance not decreasing after years of payments, fees and interest
- Repeated calls for former students using our phone number
- Request to remove personal information not honored
- Hard-to-use website, unreadable statements and lost payment agreement
- Repeated threatening collection calls about a relative's loan
- Fraud
- Payments applied to fees and interest instead of principal
- Letter claims my loan was sold but lender says it was not
- Forbearance forms ignored and harassing collection calls and emails
- Lost address led to default, collections and credit damage
- Same loan reported three times on one day while deferred
- Dishonest about incentive programs
- Loan auto-deferred with no notice and lost payment not investigated
- Hidden $50 monthly fee on subsidized Stafford loan
- Payments posted days late and interest miscalculated
- Ripoff discrimination and disrespectful treatment of employees Specializing in college student loans, federal student loans, apply for student loans and government student loans
- Bad billing practices, unwilling to respond or correct errors
- Forbearance form ignored and inaccurate 120-day delinquency on credit report
Complaint Themes
Independent Sources
Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.
Contacts & Login
- Federal student loan servicing site (login, payments, plan changes): https://nelnet.studentaid.gov/
- Borrower phone line (calls may be monitored or recorded): 888-486-4722 8 complaints mention this number
- International: 303-696-3625
- Military Solutions: 855-324-4027
- General correspondence fax: 877-402-5816
- Forms and credit-report dispute documents (per Nelnet credit-reporting FAQ): [email protected]
- Log in / create online account: https://nelnet.studentaid.gov/welcome
- Nelnet, Inc. corporate site: https://nelnet.com/
- Corporate office (as listed by SEC EDGAR and BBB; not the borrower support line): 402-458-2370
- Sloan Servicing (commercially held FFEL loans with account numbers beginning D or J; not the federal: 833-597-5626
Locations
| Type | Address |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 121 South 13th Street, Suite 100 Lincoln NE 68508 |
| Mailing address | P.O. Box 82561 Lincoln NE 68501-2561 |
| Mailing address | P.O. Box 82565 Lincoln NE 68501-2565 |
| Mailing address | P.O. Box 82505 Lincoln NE 68501-2505 |
Nelnet borrower? What to check now: SAVE ended, new plans, auto debit, payments, how to complain
Nelnet says it services federal student loans in partnership with the Department of Education. Nelnet's About page says: "As your student loan servicer, we work with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to help you achieve your educational financing goals," and that "The U.S. Department of Education helps you pay for school, and your servicer helps you manage repayment." The same page says your federal loans may be spread across several servicers and points to the Federal Student Aid Information Center, 800-433-3243, and to StudentAid.gov to see which servicer holds each loan. The rules below are as stated on Nelnet's servicing pages (nelnet.studentaid.gov) on September 30 and October 3, 2026; StudentAid.gov blocked our browser on September 30, so its pages were read through a text renderer; confirm plan rules there.
1. The SAVE plan has ended. Nelnet's home page says: "On March 10, 2026, a court order ended the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan." Its End of SAVE FAQ words the same event as "a court order ended the SAVE Plan in March 2026" (both pages read on October 3, 2026), and says borrowers in SAVE or with a pending SAVE application "must select a new repayment plan"; that Nelnet is notifying "nearly three million Nelnet borrowers" in waves and "You'll receive your notice by the end of 2026"; and that "Once you hear from us by email or mail ... you must make a switch within 90 days." According to the FAQ, borrowers who do not choose are placed automatically in the Standard Repayment Plan or the new Tiered Standard Plan (depending on loan disbursement dates), and borrowers with pending SAVE applications "may be moved to the plan they were in before submitting their application." The FAQ says you do not have to wait for the notice, and that once a new plan is processed the SAVE forbearance ends even if the 90 days have not run out. To change plans, Nelnet says to log in and select Repayment Options & Resources. Business Insider reported on September 28, 2026 that notices go out in waves with September 29 the first transition deadline, that an Education Department spokesperson confirmed 1.5 million borrowers had left SAVE as of September 14, that servicers said they intend to send all remaining notices by the end of 2026, and that a lawsuit seeks to stop the forced transfer of borrowers out of SAVE; we did not check that lawsuit's status.
2. New plans. Nelnet's pages describe the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), open to most Direct Loan borrowers, and the Tiered Standard Plan, which applies automatically to borrowers with a Direct Loan first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026. Under RAP, Nelnet says payments are a sliding percentage of adjusted gross income (1% to 10%), with a $10 monthly minimum and a $50 reduction per dependent; the interest subsidy and the principal match of up to $50 apply only if the monthly payment is made in full and on time; forgiveness comes after 30 years of qualifying payments, or after 10 years under Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Nelnet says you cannot apply for RAP on its site; the application is at StudentAid.gov/idr. Nelnet's IDR overview says the ICR and PAYE plans are "currently scheduled to end July 1, 2028" for existing participants and that Income-Based Repayment (IBR) is available for loans first disbursed before July 1, 2026. Nelnet's Repayment Options page says that "when you borrow your loans affects which repayment plans you're eligible to participate in" and directs borrowers to log in and select Repayment Options & Resources, where a series of steps shows which plans they may qualify for; it lists the plans available to borrowers whose loans were disbursed before July 1, 2026 (Standard, Graduated, Extended, and income-driven plans) separately from the two new plans. A borrower leaving SAVE can compare these options in that tool before the 90-day window ends. The same Business Insider article reported that some borrowers described a RAP application screen on StudentAid.gov that loaded indefinitely, that an Education Department spokesperson said the Department is not aware of widespread technical issues affecting applications, and that a paper application including RAP would be available "later this week"; we did not test the application.
3. Auto debit. Nelnet's home-page banner and its Auto Debit FAQ, both read on October 3, 2026, give the same deadline for the 1.00% interest-rate reduction: enroll "by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Dec. 31, 2026." (On September 30, 2026 the banner had said Sept. 30, 2026 while the FAQ said Dec. 31; the Department of Education's September 29, 2026 press release says it extended the enrollment period by three months, so that borrowers who enroll in auto pay by December 31, 2026 "will benefit from the interest rate reduction through June 30, 2028.") The Department's release says the benefit applies to Federal Direct Loans originated after July 1, 2012, including borrowers in the now-defunct SAVE plan "who have enrolled in a different, lawful repayment plan," and that borrowers in default must first bring their loans back into good standing. The Nelnet FAQ says the reduction rose from 0.25% to 1.00% on July 1, 2026, lasts until June 30, 2028, and returns to 0.25% on July 1, 2028; that changes or cancellations can be honored up to three business days before the next debit; that debits can come only from an account you hold; and that no service fee is charged.
4. Payments and misapplied payments. Nelnet's allocation page says that unless you give instructions, payments go first to past-due loan groups and extra amounts go to the loans with the highest interest rate, and that overpayments advance the due date up to 12 months unless you ask it not to. You can direct payments to a loan or group as a one-time or ongoing special payment instruction (online or at 888-486-4722). Nelnet says payments can take up to two business days to post but are effective on the date received, that bank-account payments must be submitted by 4 p.m. Eastern to count the same day, and that credit cards are not accepted. Its Contact Us page gives the mail-payment address as U.S. Department of Education, P.O. Box 2837, Portland, OR 97208-2837. If a payment posts wrongly, keep the payment confirmation and payment history from your online account. For a balance or payment-status disagreement, USAGov's student-loan page (last updated April 1, 2026) says to identify the problem, talk to your loan servicer, and "If you still need help, contact the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group"; Federal Student Aid's feedback center says cases are reviewed and aims for "Resolution within 60 days," with a possible option to escalate if you disagree with the result.
5. PSLF. Nelnet's PSLF page says the program forgives the remaining balance of eligible Direct Loans "After you've made the equivalent of 120 qualifying on-time monthly payments" while working full time for an eligible employer, and that a PSLF form (via the PSLF Help Tool) is what starts consideration. Nelnet's allocation page warns that paying ahead can affect qualifying payments and points to StudentAid.gov for details. Federal Student Aid says PSLF "is fully managed by the U.S Department of Education on StudentAid.gov," where borrowers "submit PSLF forms, track the status of their forms, view correspondence, and access payment counts." If you disagree with a PSLF or TEPSLF denial, the Department's July 31, 2026 Federal Register notice describes a PSLF reconsideration form used to determine eligibility for reconsideration of a denial; the Department says that form needs no updates because of the 2025 law changes. A payment-count question is therefore raised with the Department through StudentAid.gov, while a payment Nelnet posted wrongly is raised with Nelnet first.
6. Where to raise a complaint or dispute. These are separate routes and this page does not rank them; the CFPB's complaint page asks "Have you tried reaching out to the company?"
- Nelnet: 888-486-4722, or write to Nelnet, P.O. Box 82561, Lincoln, NE 68501-2561 (California residents: P.O. Box 82578). Documents go to the Enrollment Processing or Claims addresses on its Contact Us page.
- Federal Student Aid: Nelnet's site links "Submit a Complaint to FSA" to studentaid.gov/feedback-center. That page (read on September 30, 2026) says you can "Submit feedback, report suspicious activity, or check the status of your existing case," that Federal Student Aid may contact you, your school or your servicer, and that a case is aimed at "Resolution within 60 days," with a possible option to escalate.
- Federal Student Aid Ombudsman: the Office of the Ombudsman page (studentaid.gov/feedback-ombudsman, read on September 30, 2026) says it can help if you "disagree with your loan servicer about the balance or status of your existing federal student loans" and that, if your attempt to contact the servicer was unsuccessful, you should submit feedback through the Feedback Center. To request an escalated review of an earlier answer, it lists the Feedback Center (Manage My Cases, add information to the case and request an escalated review), mail to U.S. Department of Education, FSA Ombudsman Group, P.O. Box 1854, Monticello, KY 42633, or phone 1-800-433-3243. The same page says not to use the Ombudsman for complaints about private student loans or for loan payments or deferment, forbearance or discharge requests, which go to the servicer.
- CFPB: the CFPB's complaint page (last modified Sept. 22, 2026) says "Most companies respond within 15 days"; phone (855) 411-2372, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET, Monday to Friday.
- Credit-report errors: see the dispute steps in the FAQ below. The CFPB's complaint page says that for inaccurate information on a consumer report "You are required by law to first dispute the information directly with the credit or consumer reporting agency" (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a) and (e)).
- State attorney general: the Massachusetts settlement below shows state consumer-protection offices review servicer conduct; use your own state's office.
Government actions: Connecticut consent order (2026), Massachusetts settlement (2024), Justice Department settlement (2010)
Connecticut Department of Banking consent order (issued August 7, 2026). In a Consent Order captioned "In the Matter of Nelnet Servicing, LLC d/b/a Firstmark Services d/b/a Sloan Servicing, NMLS # 1508613," the Banking Commissioner states that Nelnet is "a Nebraska limited liability company with a main office at 121 South 13th Street, Suite 100, Lincoln, Nebraska," and that it "has been licensed as a small loan company in Connecticut since March 25, 2026, licensed to act as a student loan servicer in Connecticut since November 1, 2016 and registered to act as a federal student loan servicer in Connecticut since August 13, 2021." The Commissioner alleges "that from January 1, 2022 through March 25, 2026, Nelnet received payments on at least 1,114 small loans without first obtaining a small loan company license, in violation of Section 36a-556(a)" of the Connecticut General Statutes. Nelnet consented "without admitting or denying the allegations." Terms: Nelnet shall not engage in licensed activity without the required license; it shall use due diligence and written procedures to check whether the owners of small loans it services in Connecticut are licensed or exempt (obtain written confirmation, verify at least annually against public licensing databases, keep records for at least two years after servicing ends); and it shall pay a $25,000 civil penalty plus $800 in back licensing fees. The order says the matter is resolved and the Commissioner will not take future enforcement action based on the allegations, without prejudice to action if the terms are not observed, and that it "shall become final when issued." The order does not identify the owners of the small loans and does not describe any borrower harm. Source: the Department of Banking's published PDF, read on September 30, 2026.
Massachusetts Attorney General (announced January 11, 2024). The Attorney General's press release says Nelnet, Inc. agreed to pay $1.8 million, "resolving allegations that the company failed to appropriately communicate with borrowers about renewing Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans." It says the investigation "found that many of Nelnet's communications with borrowers between 2013 and 2017 failed to comply with these regulations and thus violated state consumer protection law." Under the settlement Nelnet is to pay $1.8 million to the Commonwealth, comply with federal notice requirements for IDR plans, and "implement business practices that make it easier for borrowers to continue making more affordable income-driven payments." The Assurance of Discontinuance (Suffolk Superior Court, M.G.L. c. 93A, § 5) states that Nelnet "enters into this AOD for settlement purposes only and neither admits nor denies the AGO's allegations." The order is effective on the date it is filed in Suffolk Superior Court; the copy we read did not show a legible filing date.
U.S. Department of Justice False Claims Act settlement (announced November 17, 2010). The Justice Department's press release "Four Student Aid Lenders Settle False Claims Act Suit for Total of $57.75 Million" says the four lenders paid the United States that total "to resolve allegations that they improperly inflated their entitlement to certain interest rate subsidies from the U.S. Department of Education," in a whistleblower suit filed in the Eastern District of Virginia. It says "Nelnet Inc. and Nelnet Educational Loan Funding Inc. have paid $47 million to the United States" and that the United States "did not intervene in this action, which was litigated by the whistleblower, but it provided assistance at many stages of the case." The release describes allegations, and the page we read is marked as archived content on the Justice Department's website.
CFPB. A keyword search of the CFPB's Enforcement Actions page for "Nelnet" on September 30, 2026 returned no results ("Sorry, there were no results based on your filter selections"). That search covers action titles only.
Scope. This page lists only the government actions the editors opened and read. Nelnet's FY2025 annual report says in general terms that the company "from time to time ... receives information and document requests or demands from state or federal regulators concerning its business practices" and cooperates with them; it does not identify specific matters in that passage. Other state or federal matters may exist that are not listed here.
Company background, servicing brands, Department of Education contract and loan transfers
According to Nelnet's annual report on Form 10-K for 2025 (filed February 26, 2026), "The Company was formed as a Nebraska corporation in 1978 to service federal student loans for two local banks." The cover page of Nelnet's quarterly report filed August 6, 2026 lists its principal executive offices at 121 South 13th Street, Suite 100, Lincoln, NE 68508 (the SEC's company record and the BBB profile list Suite 201 at the same street address). The 10-K describes Nelnet Servicing, LLC as "a subsidiary of the Company" that earns servicing revenue under a contract with the Department of Education. BBB lists the same street address under the name "Nelnet - National Educational Loan Network."
Servicing brands. The Connecticut consent order quoted above names the servicing entity as "Nelnet Servicing, LLC d/b/a Firstmark Services d/b/a Sloan Servicing, NMLS # 1508613." Nelnet's corporate home page (nelnet.com, which nelnetinc.com redirects to) points federal student loan borrowers to Nelnet.studentaid.gov and says that for "commercially held Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans, which were previously serviced by Nelnet" borrowers should visit SloanServicing.com. The Sloan Servicing welcome page says "Your commercially held Federal Family Education Loans from an account number that begins with D or J are now serviced under our new brand, Sloan Servicing," lists 833-597-5626 (833-59-SLOAN), and says that if you have loans with more than one servicer "you will need to make a payment to each." Use the name, account number and remittance address on your own statement to tell which site applies.
Department of Education work. The 10-K says that at December 31, 2025 the company was servicing $434.5 billion of student loans for 11.4 million borrowers for the Department, that the Department is its largest customer (21% of revenue), and that servicing under the Unified Servicing and Data Solution (USDS) contract "went live on April 1, 2024," with a five-year base period through April 2028 and possible extensions. It also says new loan volume "is allocated among the Department servicers based on certain service level and portfolio performance metrics." Nelnet's second-quarter 2026 report (August 6, 2026) says that at June 30, 2026 it was servicing $519.2 billion of Department, Canadian, FFELP, private education and consumer loans for 15.2 million borrowers; those totals include more than Department loans.
Loan transfers. Nelnet's quarterly report (Form 10-Q, filed August 6, 2026) says: "Borrower volume declined throughout 2025 as servicing volume was transferred, at the Department's direction, from the Company to its remote-hosted servicing customer to support the stand-up of a new servicer. The Company does not expect to transfer additional volume to this servicer in 2026." It adds that beginning in the fourth quarter of 2025 certain borrowers leaving the CARES Act forbearance period "failed to resume payment activity and were transferred to the Department's Debt Management and Collections System for management of defaulted federal student loans." The filing does not name the new servicer. If your loan is moved, the Department (through StudentAid.gov) is the source for which servicer holds it.
Canadian acquisition. The same 10-Q says that on February 2, 2026 Nelnet "acquired 100 percent of the outstanding stock of a wholly owned subsidiary of DH Corporation," later renamed Nelnet Diversified Services Canada, Inc. ("NDS Canada"), a Canadian student loan servicer, and that after a working-capital adjustment the purchase price was revised to CAD $146.8 million. The Canadian loans are part of the Q2 2026 totals above.
Other 2026 acquisition. Nelnet's April 30, 2026 press release says Nelnet Business Services, a division of Nelnet, Inc., "acquired Australia-based Invision Digital Pty Ltd," the owner of the Passtab, Resitab and Entrytab brands; it describes Passtab as a school visitor, contractor and compliance management platform that will operate within the Nelnet International business line.
Complaint record: USAComplaints, CFPB, BBB, Trustpilot and ComplaintsBoard, reported separately
Several sources track complaints about Nelnet. This page reports each separately as displayed on October 3, 2026 and does not add or average them:
- USAComplaints: 16 published complaints on this site are linked to this page (counted in the site database on October 3, 2026), dated November 2003 through November 2012. They are unverified consumer statements written about 14 to 23 years ago and do not describe current Nelnet practices. No newer posts were linked.
- CFPB Consumer Complaint Database (company name "Nelnet, Inc."): 27,975 complaints received from March 1, 2012 to September 27, 2026, as displayed on October 3, 2026; 6,655 of them in the 12 months from October 3, 2025 (7,118 in the 12 months before that). By product: Student loan 16,362; Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports 6,724; Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports 2,833; Debt collection 1,908. Top issues: Dealing with your lender or servicer 9,130; Incorrect information on your report 7,157; Improper use of your report 2,648; Struggling to repay your loan 2,612. Company responses: Closed with explanation 27,893; Closed with non-monetary relief 32; Closed 30; Closed with monetary relief 6; Closed without relief 5; In progress 8. The CFPB marks 27,904 responses timely and 71 not timely. These are counts of complaints submitted by consumers and the company's recorded responses; they do not establish that each complaint was correct. They are also not rates: the database does not adjust for how many borrowers a company serves, and this page computes no rate (Nelnet's 10-K reports 11.4 million Department borrowers at December 31, 2025, a different population from the database's categories, which include credit reporting and debt collection).
- BBB (profile for "Nelnet - National Educational Loan Network," Lincoln, NE, covering headquarters and corporate-owned locations; BBB lists the address as 121 S 13th St Ste 201): BBB Accredited (accredited date 2005-04-13 in BBB's page data), rating A+; 1,084 total complaints in the last 3 years and 153 closed in the last 12 months; customer-review average 1.05 out of 5 stars from 229 customer reviews. BBB displays the letter rating and the customer-review average as separate items, and this page does not reconcile them.
- Trustpilot (nelnet.com domain, "Unclaimed profile"): score 1.4 from 58 reviews. Reviews are not separated by product: the first reviews displayed on October 3, 2026 include a tuition-payment complaint (dated August 26, 2026) as well as loan-servicing ones. Nelnet's corporate site lists tuition payment services (Nelnet Campus Commerce) as a business line separate from Nelnet Federal Student Loan Services, and the Trustpilot profile does not say which business a review concerns.
- ComplaintsBoard (page showing "Updated on Sep 09, 2026", read on October 3, 2026): displays an "overall reputation rating" of 2.2 "from 0 reviews and 80 complaints."
Data-breach class settlement, West Virginia billing settlement and other lawsuits
Data-breach class action (settled). Nelnet Servicing, LLC disclosed on August 26, 2022 that an unauthorized party had accessed its systems. The court's final-approval order describes "a data security breach that occurred from June to July 2022, when an unauthorized third party accessed the class members' student loan account registration information on systems controlled by one of the defendants, Nelnet Servicing, LLC," affecting "Approximately 2.5 million student borrowers" whose loans "originated with either EdFinancial Services, LLC, or the Oklahoma Student Loan Authority," with names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers compromised. Plaintiffs alleged negligence, breach of implied contract and violations of state consumer-protection laws; the settlement notice says the settling entities "deny they violated any law and dispute Plaintiffs' allegations."
Terms and status. The settlement created a $10 million fund (attorneys' fees and costs, administration, credit monitoring, approved claims for out-of-pocket and other expenses of up to $5,000 per class member, and a pro rata share for other validated claimants). The claim, opt-out and objection deadline was March 5, 2026, which has passed. According to the order, 1,035,674 claim forms had been filed as of May 4, 2026 and 308,531 were verified as coming from eligible class members; "Late claim submissions ... were rejected," with a right to ask the court to review. Counsel explained at the hearing that only borrowers whose loans originated with EdFinancial or the Oklahoma Student Loan Authority were affected, and that "People thought they were class members when they were not" just because Nelnet was their servicer. On May 21, 2026 Judge John M. Gerrard granted final approval and approved $3,333,333.33 in fees and $65,000 in costs; the order states that nothing in it may be used "as an admission by or against, the Settling Entities of any fault, wrongdoing, or liability." As of October 3, 2026, CourtListener's newest entries were the order and judgment of May 21, 2026, and the docket we read does not say when payments will be made. The administrator's website (nelnetsettlement.com), also read on October 3, 2026, still describes the settlement as proposed and gives a fairness hearing date of May 5, 2026; that text pre-dates the court's May 21, 2026 order, so the court record is the source for approval status. The settlement website (nelnetsettlement.com) lists the administrator, A.B. Data, Ltd.: 1-877-388-1763, [email protected], P.O. Box 173032, Milwaukee, WI 53217.
West Virginia billing class action (proposed settlement). Stevens v. Nelnet Servicing LLC, Case No. CC-06-2025-C-523, Circuit Court of Cabell County, West Virginia. The long-form notice says the lawsuit alleges that Nelnet Servicing "improperly calculated and misrepresented monthly amounts due" for West Virginia student loan borrowers, that Nelnet "denies that it acted improperly or did anything wrong and maintains that it always complied with both federal and state law," and that it agreed to the settlement "solely to avoid the burden, expense, risk, and uncertainty of continuing the Lawsuit." According to the notice, the parties' records show class members as people who, as of 2023, were West Virginia residents with federal student loans serviced by Nelnet, applied for an income-driven repayment plan on or before August 31, 2023, had the application eventually approved, and, while it was under review, received a monthly statement saying no payment was due in the current billing cycle but that a payment was due within the next 60 days. The proposed fund is $325,000; a class member who does nothing receives a flat per-letter payment (estimated at $319.12 after costs, assuming all class members participate), class counsel will request fees of 33 percent ($107,250) plus $2,006.64 in costs, and a $7,500 service award is requested. The release covers claims about "billing practices and/or the use of administrative forbearances during the pendency of income driven repayment plan applications." Schedule per the court orders posted on the settlement website: agreed order on preliminary approval filed May 26, 2026; an order filed June 24, 2026 moved the notice-mailing deadline to July 10, 2026 and set the opt-out deadline at September 7, 2026; objection deadline August 26, 2026; final-approval hearing September 23, 2026, 10:00 a.m. before Judge Sean K. Hammers. The September 23, 2026 hearing date has passed. When we checked the settlement website (stevensvnelnetwv.com) on September 30 and again on October 3, 2026, its notice still showed the hearing as upcoming and its Important Documents page listed only the preliminary-approval and scheduling orders, with no final-approval order. We did not find a court record of the hearing's outcome, so this page treats the settlement as proposed and does not say whether the court approved it. The notice gives the administrator as P.O. Box 673, Charleston, WV 25323, 1-888-925-4968.
Related federal case. An earlier federal case with the same named plaintiff, Stevens v. Nelnet Servicing, LLC, No. 3:24-cv-00280 (S.D. W. Va.), alleged that Nelnet miscalculated a SAVE-plan monthly payment. On May 7, 2025 Judge Robert C. Chambers dismissed Count I, the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act claim, without prejudice for lack of Article III standing; the remaining counts were brought by the plaintiff individually under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. CourtListener's docket, read on October 3, 2026, shows a January 12, 2026 order staying the action "pending settlement" and an Agreed Order of Dismissal signed on April 1, 2026 dismissing the plaintiff's surviving claims with prejudice. We did not find a document explaining how the federal and state cases are connected, so this page does not say.
Other cases. In Mirandette v. Nelnet, Inc., No. 16-2224 (6th Cir.), an unpublished opinion of January 18, 2018 affirmed dismissal of the Nebraska consumer-protection claims and reversed dismissal of a breach-of-contract claim over when mailed payments are credited, remanding it to the district court; we did not check what happened after the remand. A CourtListener case-name search for "Nelnet" returned 805 dockets on September 30, 2026, in federal district, bankruptcy and other courts, many of them individual borrowers' cases; this page does not list them.
Is Nelnet Legitimate?
Nelnet, Inc. is a public company (NYSE: NNI) that files annual and quarterly reports with the SEC. Its FY2025 10-K states that its subsidiary Nelnet Servicing, LLC services federal student loans under a contract with the U.S. Department of Education. Nelnet's borrower-facing site is nelnet.studentaid.gov, and the page carries a banner reading "An official website of the United States government"; the corporate site is nelnet.com. BBB shows the company as BBB Accredited with an A+ rating; that letter rating and BBB's customer-review average (see the complaint-record section) are separate BBB measures.
The record reported above also includes the CFPB complaint counts, a 2022 data breach resolved by a $10 million class settlement with no admission of wrongdoing, a proposed West Virginia class settlement in which Nelnet denies wrongdoing, a Massachusetts settlement and an August 2026 Connecticut consent order that Nelnet neither admitted nor denied, and a 2010 Justice Department settlement over interest-subsidy claims. This page assigns Nelnet no rating and no label of its own; the sources are presented so readers can weigh them.
Court & Public Records
| Case | Authority | Dates | Type | Outcome | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In re Data Security Cases Against Nelnet Servicing, LLC (lead case Spearman v. Nelnet Servicing, LLC and EdFinancial Services, LLC) Docket No. 4:22-cv-03191 | U.S. District Court, D. Neb. | Settled | Settled A putative class action over a June-July 2022 data security incident that compromised student borrowers' registration information. The court granted final approval of a $10 million class settlement with Nelnet Servicing, LLC, Edfinancial Services, LLC and the Oklahoma Student Loan Authority on May 21, 2026, approved fees of $3,333,333.33 and costs of $65,000, and dismissed the released claims with prejudice. The order states that nothing in it is an admission of fault, wrongdoing or liability by the settling entities, and the settlement notice says they deny violating any law. The claim deadline (March 5, 2026) has passed. CourtListener showed no later entries as of October 3, 2026. | Source | |
| Stevens v. Nelnet Servicing LLC (West Virginia student loan billing class action) Docket Case No. CC-06-2025-C-523 | Circuit Court of Cabell County, West Virginia | — | Filed | Filed — no final outcome recorded A putative class action alleging that Nelnet Servicing improperly calculated and misrepresented monthly amounts due for West Virginia federal student loan borrowers. Nelnet denies wrongdoing. The parties reached a proposed $325,000 class settlement; the court entered an agreed preliminary-approval order on May 26, 2026 and set a final-approval hearing for September 23, 2026. The September 23, 2026 hearing date has passed; the settlement website listed no final-approval order when checked on September 30 and October 3, 2026, and we did not find a court record of the outcome. Class members who do nothing receive a payment if the settlement is approved; the objection (August 26) and opt-out (September 7, 2026) deadlines have passed. | Source |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Nelnet legit?
Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE: NNI) files reports with the SEC, and its FY2025 10-K says its subsidiary Nelnet Servicing, LLC services federal student loans for the U.S. Department of Education under a contract that went live on April 1, 2024. Nelnet's borrower site is nelnet.studentaid.gov, and BBB lists a Lincoln, Nebraska headquarters profile as BBB Accredited with an A+ rating. The record also includes 27,975 CFPB complaints (as displayed on October 3, 2026), a $10 million data-breach class settlement with no admission of wrongdoing, a 2024 Massachusetts settlement and an August 2026 Connecticut consent order that Nelnet neither admitted nor denied. This page gives Nelnet no rating of its own.
What happened to the SAVE plan, and what must I do?
Nelnet's home page says "On March 10, 2026, a court order ended the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan" (read October 3, 2026), and its FAQ says a court order ended SAVE "in March 2026." Its FAQ says borrowers in SAVE or with a pending SAVE application must select a new repayment plan, that Nelnet is sending notices in waves with all notices due "by the end of 2026," and that after the notice arrives by email or mail borrowers "must make a switch within 90 days." Borrowers who do not choose are placed in the Standard Repayment Plan or the Tiered Standard Plan (depending on disbursement dates); pending SAVE applicants "may be moved to the plan they were in before submitting their application." You can log in and choose a plan before the notice arrives (Repayment Options & Resources). Confirm details on StudentAid.gov, which blocked our browser on September 30, 2026.
What are RAP and the Tiered Standard Plan, and who qualifies?
Per Nelnet's pages, the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) is an income-driven plan with payments of 1% to 10% of adjusted gross income (minimum $10 a month, $50 off per dependent), an interest subsidy and a principal match of up to $50 that apply only when the payment is made in full and on time, and forgiveness after 30 years (10 years with PSLF). Borrowers whose Direct Loans were all first disbursed before July 1, 2026 may choose RAP; if any Direct Loan was first disbursed on or after that date, RAP is the only income-driven plan available. Parent PLUS borrowers and FFEL Program loans are not eligible for RAP. The Tiered Standard Plan is a fixed-payment plan with a 10- to 25-year term based on the Direct Loan balance, and it applies automatically to borrowers with a Direct Loan first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026. Nelnet says RAP is applied for at StudentAid.gov/idr, not on Nelnet's site.
How does Nelnet's auto debit work, and what is the enrollment deadline?
Nelnet's Auto Debit FAQ says debits come from a checking or savings account you hold, carry no service fee, and can be changed or cancelled up to three business days before the next debit date; payments falling on a weekend or holiday are debited the next business day without making the loan past due. It says the auto-debit interest-rate reduction on certain Direct Loans rose from 0.25% to 1.00% on July 1, 2026, lasts until June 30, 2028, and reverts to 0.25% on July 1, 2028. On October 3, 2026 both the FAQ and Nelnet's home-page banner gave the enrollment deadline as 11:59 p.m. Eastern on December 31, 2026; on September 30, 2026 the banner had said September 30. The Department of Education's September 29, 2026 press release says it extended the enrollment period to December 31, 2026, and that borrowers in the SAVE plan benefit once they have enrolled in a different, lawful repayment plan. For account-specific questions, Nelnet's number is 888-486-4722.
How does Nelnet apply my payments, and how do I direct them?
Nelnet's allocation page says that unless you give instructions, payments are applied first to past-due loan groups, and any amount above the current amount due goes to the loans with the highest interest rate; overpayments also advance your due date, up to 12 months. You can direct a payment to a specific loan or group as a one-time instruction (online with Pay by Group, or by calling 888-486-4722) or as an ongoing special payment instruction in your online account, and you can ask that the due date not advance. Nelnet says bank-account payments made by 4 p.m. Eastern are effective the same day, payments can take up to two business days to post, and credit cards are not accepted. If a payment appears misapplied, gather the payment confirmation and the payment history and contact Nelnet first, then use the complaint routes below.
How do I dispute a Nelnet credit-reporting error?
Nelnet's credit-reporting FAQ says it reports monthly to Innovis, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, reports an account as up to date until it is 90 days past due, and does not grant "goodwill requests" to remove accurately reported delinquencies. For an error, it says the process "will be faster" if you dispute with the credit bureau first. To dispute directly with Nelnet, send a full copy of a credit report from one of the four bureaus (not a third-party source such as Credit Karma) with a written explanation, through Upload Documents in your online account or by mail to Nelnet, Enrollment Processing, P.O. Box 82565, Lincoln, NE 68501-2565. Nelnet says a borrower-disputed flag is then added to the credit report.
Can I still claim in a Nelnet class-action settlement?
2022 data-breach settlement. The claim deadline was March 5, 2026, and the court's May 21, 2026 order says late claim submissions "were rejected" but may be contested by asking the court for review. The $10 million settlement covered people whose personal information was compromised in the June-July 2022 incident, which the court described as affecting about 2.5 million borrowers whose loans originated with EdFinancial Services or the Oklahoma Student Loan Authority; the order reports class counsel's explanation that people who merely had Nelnet as their servicer were not class members. The court granted final approval on May 21, 2026. The docket does not state a payment date. The settlement website's home page still describes the settlement as proposed with a May 5, 2026 hearing, which pre-dates the court's May 21 order; the court record controls. Its FAQ says that if the administrator finds a claim form "deficient or defective, it may contact you," and that "it is not known precisely how much each Authorized Claimant will receive ... or when payments will be made." For a claim already filed, keep the confirmation of claim receipt, respond to any deficiency notice the administrator sends, use the site's Change of Information Form if your address or email changes, and contact the administrator, A.B. Data, at 1-877-388-1763 or [email protected] about claim status; the site also has a Fix My Claim page.
West Virginia billing settlement (proposed). A separate $325,000 settlement in Stevens v. Nelnet Servicing LLC (Cabell County, West Virginia) covers people who, as of 2023, were West Virginia residents with Nelnet-serviced federal loans, applied for an income-driven plan on or before August 31, 2023, and received a statement showing no payment due with a payment due within 60 days. The notice says class members who do nothing receive a check if the settlement is approved; the objection and opt-out deadlines (August 26 and September 7, 2026) have passed, and the fairness hearing was set for September 23, 2026, a date that has passed. The settlement website listed no final-approval order when checked on September 30 and October 3, 2026, and we did not find a court record of the outcome. Its administrator is at P.O. Box 673, Charleston, WV 25323, 1-888-925-4968.
Has any regulator taken action against Nelnet?
On August 7, 2026 the Connecticut Banking Commissioner issued a consent order in which Nelnet Servicing, LLC, without admitting or denying the allegations, agreed to a $25,000 civil penalty and $800 in back licensing fees; the Commissioner alleged it received payments on at least 1,114 Connecticut small loans between January 1, 2022 and March 25, 2026 without a small-loan-company license. The Massachusetts Attorney General announced on January 11, 2024 a $1.8 million settlement with Nelnet, Inc. over allegations about IDR recertification notices sent between 2013 and 2017; the Assurance of Discontinuance says Nelnet "neither admits nor denies" the allegations. In 2010 the Justice Department announced that Nelnet, Inc. and Nelnet Educational Loan Funding, Inc. paid $47 million to resolve allegations about inflated interest-rate subsidy claims. A title search of the CFPB's Enforcement Actions page for "Nelnet" returned no results on September 30, 2026. Only the actions the editors opened are listed; other matters may exist.
Where can I complain about Nelnet?
Nelnet lists 888-486-4722 (Monday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern; Tuesday and Wednesday to 8 p.m.; Thursday and Friday to 6 p.m.) and mail to P.O. Box 82561, Lincoln, NE 68501-2561 (California residents: P.O. Box 82578). Its site also links "Submit a Complaint to FSA" to studentaid.gov/feedback-center, a page that says cases are aimed at resolution within 60 days. The CFPB accepts complaints about student loan servicers at consumerfinance.gov/complaint or (855) 411-2372 and says "Most companies respond within 15 days." The CFPB's page says that for credit-report errors you must first dispute directly with the credit reporting agency. For a balance or payment disagreement, USAGov says to talk to the servicer and then contact the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group; the Ombudsman page lists an escalated-review request through Manage My Cases in the Feedback Center, by mail to FSA Ombudsman Group, P.O. Box 1854, Monticello, KY 42633, or by phone at 1-800-433-3243, and says it is not for private student loans or routine payment, deferment, forbearance or discharge requests. You can also contact your state attorney general's consumer-protection office.