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Important Updates

  • The 2025-26 Continuing Undergraduate Scholarships application is now open! Get started on your application today!
  • While awaiting your 2024-25 financial aid offer, we encourage you to utilize the UC Davis Financial Aid Estimator to estimate your potential aid.
  • The 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the California Dream Act Application (CADAA) will open on December 1, 2024.

Repaying Loans

Exit Counseling

Exit counseling helps you understand your rights and responsibilities as a borrower and must be completed before you withdraw, graduate, or drop below half-time attendance (even if transferring to another school). This includes graduation from B.A. to M.A. or M.A. to Ph.D. programs at the same school. You can complete your Federal Direct Student Loans exit counseling on StudentAid.gov. A separate exit counseling session will be required by Student Accounting for institutional loans.

Loan Servicers and Repayment Information

Loan billing is not handled by UC Davis. There will be one or more agencies (or loan servicers) who will contact you regarding the repayment of your loans. Each servicer has its own payment process, so check with your servicer if you aren’t sure how or when to make a payment. StudentAid.gov maintains a list of current Federal Direct Loan servicers that may send you a bill.

Heartland ECSI is the new loan servicer that manages California DREAM, Perkins, and University Student Loans. 

  • Make sure your address and contact information is updated with your loan servicers
  • You will be contacted by a loan servicer within 3 months of graduating (or requiring repayment)
  • Work with your loan servicers if you are experiencing difficulty in making your loan payments

Loan Repayment Information

Although you may select or be assigned a repayment plan when you first begin repaying your student loan, you can change repayment at any time. The Department of Education offers a web-based tool that will help borrowers easily navigate the complexity of student loan repayment options. The tool is geared to help students find their best repayment option in five steps or less and then provides information about the next steps to take. Find out your student loan repayment at StudentAid.gov/Repay.

Managing Loans and Avoiding Default

StudentLoans.gov provides resources to assist with managing loans including information about repayment plans, loan consolidations, deferment, forbearance, forgiveness, cancellation, and discharge.

Resolving Loan Disputes

If you have been unable to resolve a dispute regarding your student loan, there are resources available to assist you. For federal loans, contact the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group for help. For University or private loans, contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Student Loan Ombudsman to initiate a complaint.