A New Approach to Reaching Your Students, Part III: X-Days Past Due

What You Know: Nsight Plus Letter Merge

As you may already know, Nsight Plus, Nelnet’s free reporting tool for schools, offers the ability to generate student-specific letters about their current student loan status. Administrators are able to easily pull borrower data from Nsight Plus, merge the data with the appropriate letter, place letters on your institution’s letterhead, and send by email or physical mail. Letter options include:

• Deferment Ending – For borrowers within 60 days of their deferment end date
• Forbearance Ending – For borrowers within 60 days of their forbearance end date
• X-Days Past Due – For borrowers between 60 and 240 days delinquent
• Late Stage Delinquency – For borrowers between 241 and 360 days delinquent

You are able to create either letters for a group of students or just individual letters. These letters are available for any borrower serviced by Nelnet, along with those serviced by EdFinancial, Granite State, OSLA, and VSAC. Click here for a step-by-step guide to creating these letters.

A New Approach: Combining Communication with Education

On their own, Nsight Plus’ letters are valuable default prevention and management tools. However, combined with the appropriate Nelnet resources, we think these letters could be an especially powerful tool for your institution. By using our letters in tandem with our resources, borrowers will not only be informed of their loan status, but they will also receive a brief, to-the-point education on topics critical to them in their current status. This is the third article in our series that looks at how to effectively package letters from Nsight Plus with Nelnet’s resources. In previous articles, we have addressed how to use the Deferment Ending and Forbearance Ending letters.

The X-Days Past Due letter is sent to borrowers between 60 and 240 days delinquent. It tells them how many days past due their loan payment is and to take action immediately to resolve the issue. The letter reminds borrowers that a variety of repayment options are available and that Nelnet can help them determine the best solution for their situation. Here is an example of the X-Days Past Due letter:

Every borrower’s situation is unique – their loans could be past due for a variety of reasons. No matter the reason for delinquency, it is important to make sure borrowers fully understand the serious consequences of default. It is just as important that they know how to correct their situation. We have two resources available that address these specific topics. How to Avoid Delinquency and Default on Your Student Loan reminds borrowers what delinquency and default are, lists consequences of default, and briefly describes how delinquency and default can be avoided. Four Easy Ways to Avoid Delinquency or Default on Your Student Loan points out ways borrowers can connect with Nelnet to take action on their loans. By including these resources when you send borrowers their X-Days Past Due letters, you can help them avoid default and identify a repayment plan that works for them.

To sign up for Nsight Plus and start integrating our letters into your school’s default prevention plan, click here. For a look at more useful resources, visit our library.

Kristin Tobias, Communications Coordinator, Nelnet