1) Your existing loans are not touched at all.
It’s true, they aren’t being changed in any way. So, if you have a loan (or a few) through a private bank such as Sallie Mae or Discover, you will still be going to them for customer service, repayment, etc.
2) Your school will be switching to the Federal Direct Lending Program (FDLP) by July 1, 2010.
In a nutshell, this means that if you are taking out any new federal student loans for college after June, they will all come directly through the federal government (specifically, the Department of Education). Most of this will be automated by the school, but if you want to apply for an unsubsidized Stafford or Parent PLUS loan, you’ll need to use the Direct Loan Servicing website. Quick tip: This site currently doesn’t work with the Google Chrome browser, so if it doesn’t load, try Internet Explorer or Firefox.
3) Relax and focus on school & life.
A lot of these changes currently going through the industry won’t have a direct effect on you. My best advice is to get in touch with your school’s financial aid department within the next two months and ask if there is anything special you need to do or fill out to make sure your student funds remain uninterrupted.
As always, if you have further questions or want to learn more about anything student or financial aid-related, feel free to ask a question in our forums or ask on Twitter!