Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon Portland Community College

How to pay interest on unsubsidized loans

Most students don’t start making payments until they leave school, but did you know you can start paying them before while you’re still at PCC? In fact, it is a really good idea to pay the interest on your loans while you are still taking classes. A small payment each month (around $30 bucks) can keep that interest from stacking up and save you a lot of money.

For example: for a $5,000 loan, your monthly interest payments would be $28. If you paid this interest while in school, you would save $940!

Step 1: Find your loan servicer

  1. Log in to the NSLDS (National Student Loan Data System).
  2. Click Financial Aid Review and accept the terms of privacy.
  3. Enter your social security number, first two letters of your last name, birth date, and federal PIN.
  4. When your aid summary loads, click a numbered box in the left column.
  5. Amounts and Dates for that individual loan will load. On the lower part of the page, you’ll see the contact information for your loan’s servicer.

Loans screenshotChoose a loan by selecting a numbered box
Amount and datesFind contact info

Step 2: Contact your loan servicer

Now that you know who is handling your loan, contact them to set up an interest payment. When you contact the server, be sure to tell them you want to pay only the interest on your unsubsidized loan.

Step 3: Make monthly payments

Congratulations! You are now on your way to having much less debt to pay off your student loan. By making monthly payments, you are reducing the total amount that will need to be paid off later.

For more information about managing your financial aid visit Panther Tracks: Managing Student Loans.