Nelnet Student Loan Servicing: Is Your Money and Information Safe?

When I took some summer graduate classes, my loans were through Nelnet. Since I had never heard of them, I was concerned about my privacy and their legitimacy. But since that is the company the university used, I went with Nelnet. At first, I didn't have any problems with my Nelnet account. But when I dropped one class before the semester started, the school claimed they weren't paid for all three classes.

Student loans aren't credit cards, but I wondered if Nelnet could possibly help with the situation. After all, they do enough business with that school. Since it wasn't that the school was lagging in giving the refund but claiming they didn't owe one, there was nothing I could do to prove their math wrong. I needed help.

The Nelnet representative that I spoke with said they weren't getting involved. He lectured me on how I had to pay the loan no matter what. Of course I already knew everything that he said. He was of absolutely no help. Luckily, the school figured out their accounting mistake in time and returned the overpayment to Nelnet.

When the loan went into repayment, I signed up for the auto deduct from my checking account so I wouldn't have to worry about the payments being on time. I never had any problems with this service.

Recently, I wanted to change the auto deduct to my other checking account so I called Nelnet. The automated system had me enter my social security number before it would transfer me to a Nelnet representative. According to their website, they have been putting changes into effect including no longer using social security numbers for login on the website and switching over to usernames. It seems they removed social security numbers from the website and added them to the phone system.

The Nelnet representative came on the phone and asked for my name. After he had my name, he told me my address. I was very upset by this. I told him that a person shouldn't be able to find out my address simply because they have my name and social security number. His response was did I want it set so only I could access the account.

I was beyond shocked by the response. Nelnet seemed to have almost no security measures in place. I had the representative add a password to the account, but I don't feel it's safe.

I do not recommend Nelnet. If you're looking for a company to service your new student loans or thinking of consolidation, I recommend Sallie Mae. I've been with Sallie Mae longer than Nelnet and I've never had any problems with Sallie Mae.