Ascendium: Student Loan Forgiveness & Repayment Options

In this post, I’ll explain wh Ascendium Education Solutions is and what they have to do with your student loans.

Who is Ascendium Education Group

Last year, Nelnet bought Great Lakes’ student loan servicing business, Great Lakes Educational Loan Services. Nelnet’s acquisition made it larger than both American Education Services and FedLoan. In fact, the acquisition made Nelnet the largest federal student loan servicerLoan ServicerThe company that manages a borrower's federal student loan account, processes payments, and handles applications for repayment plans, deferment, forbearance, and forgiveness on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. in America.

Although Great Lakes sold its student loan servicing business, it wasn’t all the way out of the student loan business.

Far from it.

But just because it remained in the game, doesn’t mean it could keep its name.

As part of the NelnetNelnetA federal student loan servicer that manages millions of Direct Loan accounts on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. sale, Great Lakes agreed to adopt a different name for its remaining student loan business.

That name?

Ascendium Education Group.

What Does Ascendium Education Solutions Do?

Sidenote: FFEL loans don’t qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. So if you’re banking on getting your loans forgiven and you see Ascendium on your credit report or on the National Student Loan Data SystemNational Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)The U.S. Department of Education's central database of federal student loans and grants. It holds records of loan balances, disbursements, servicers, and enrollment history for federal aid recipients., you might want to consider consolidating those loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan.

When did Great Lakes Change to Ascendium

Great Lakes changed its name to Ascendium on November 15, 2018.

The name change affects only the business that wasn’t sold to Nelnet.

Ascendium Education Group vs. Ascendium Education Solutions

Ascendium Education Solutions’ operations include its:

• education philanthropy division (exploring systemic obstacles preventing the completion of postsecondary education)
• defaultDefaultThe status of a federal student loan after the borrower has failed to make required payments for 270 days. Default can trigger collection actions such as wage garnishment, tax refund offset, and damage to credit reports. assistance division (educating borrowers on the consequences of default), and
• suite of products (educating borrowers on financial wellness so they can achieve their education goals)

What is Ascendium’s mailing address

You can send letters, payments, invoices, or other materials to Ascendium at:

Ascendium Education Group, Inc. & Affiliates

2501 International Lane

Madison WI 53704

Visit ascendiumeducation.org for more information.