Who is complaining aboutStudent loan?
When looking at complaint volume about a company or product, consider company size and/or market share. For example, companies with more customers may have more complaints than companies with fewer customers.
The CFPB does not verify every allegation in a complaint before publishing it.Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Complaint Database. A complaint is a consumer's account of a problem; it is not a finding against the company.
“Student loan” accounts for 19,396 complaints in the 12 months to 30 Sep 2026, or 0.3% of everything the CFPB received, about level with the 20,829 of the 12 months before.
111 companies listed on this site received at least one complaint in the category. The issue chosen most often was “Dealing with your lender or servicer” (57.1%).
Company responses in the category: 65.5% closed with an explanation, 1.4% closed with non-monetary relief, 0.2% closed with monetary relief, and 5.5% still in progress when the file was published. 69.6% were timely.
Tables below list companies by complaint count with their size beside them. Larger companies serve more customers and can be expected to receive more complaints; the per-size table covers only companies with a public asset figure.
Companies with the most complaints, with their size
Ordered by complaint count in the last 12 months. The size column is the public measure this site could match to the company; the last column divides the count by bank or credit union assets where one exists.
| Company (as named by the CFPB) | Complaints, 12 months | Share | Company size | Per $1bn assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOHELA | 6,917 | 35.7% | no public measure | — |
| Nelnet, Inc. | 3,522 | 18.2% | no public measure | — |
| Maximus Federal Services, Inc. | 2,327 | 12% | no public measure | — |
| Servicer under contract with Federal Student Aid | 1,525 | 7.9% | no public measure | — |
| EdFinancial Services | 1,432 | 7.4% | no public measure | — |
| SLM CORPORATION | 693 | 3.6% | no public measure | — |
| Central Research Inc | 524 | 2.7% | no public measure | — |
| Navient Solutions, LLC. | 476 | 2.5% | no public measure | — |
| Climb Credit Inc. | 332 | 1.7% | no public measure | — |
| AES/PHEAA | 202 | 1% | no public measure | — |
| SOFI TECHNOLOGIES, INC. | 152 | 0.8% | $57bn assets | 2.68 |
| Goal Structured Solutions, LLC | 110 | 0.6% | no public measure | — |
| TRANSUNION INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS, INC. | 99 | 0.5% | no public measure | — |
| EQUIFAX, INC. | 95 | 0.5% | no public measure | — |
| TRANSWORLD SYSTEMS INC | 70 | 0.4% | no public measure | — |
| HEARTLAND PAYMENT SYSTEMS INC | 63 | 0.3% | no public measure | — |
| Experian Information Solutions Inc. | 60 | 0.3% | no public measure | — |
| Ascent Holding Co | 51 | 0.3% | no public measure | — |
| ECMC GROUP, INC. | 50 | 0.3% | no public measure | — |
| Earnest Inc. | 47 | 0.2% | no public measure | — |
| College Ave Student Loan Servicing, LLC | 41 | 0.2% | no public measure | — |
| CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. | 35 | 0.2% | $233bn assets | 0.15 |
| Georgia Student Finance Authority | 31 | 0.2% | no public measure | — |
| LendKey Technologies, Inc. | 23 | 0.1% | no public measure | — |
| Ascendium Education Group | 18 | 0.1% | no public measure | — |
| IOWA STUDENT LOAN LIQUIDITY CORPORATION | 17 | 0.1% | no public measure | — |
| Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority | 16 | 0.1% | no public measure | — |
| Williams & Fudge, Inc | 13 | 0.1% | no public measure | — |
| Texas Guaranteed | 13 | 0.1% | no public measure | — |
| DISCOVER BANK | 12 | 0.1% | no public measure | — |
| All other companies, including those not listed by name | 430 | 2.2% | — | — |
CFPB: “When looking at complaint volume about a company or product, consider company size and/or market share. For example, companies with more customers may have more complaints than companies with fewer customers.” The CFPB does not verify every allegation in a complaint before publishing it. 2 of the 30 companies in this table have a public size measure. “No public measure” means the company could not be matched by name to a single institution in the FDIC, NCUA or HMDA files, not that it is small.
Issues
- Dealing with your lender or servicer11,081 · 57.1%
- Struggling to repay your loan3,575 · 18.4%
- Incorrect information on your report2,905 · 15%
- Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem852 · 4.4%
- Getting a loan365 · 1.9%
- All other categories618 · 3.2%
| Issue (CFPB label) | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Dealing with your lender or servicer | 11,081 | 57.1% |
| Struggling to repay your loan | 3,575 | 18.4% |
| Incorrect information on your report | 2,905 | 15% |
| Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem | 852 | 4.4% |
| Getting a loan | 365 | 1.9% |
| Improper use of your report | 315 | 1.6% |
| Issue with income share agreement | 85 | 0.4% |
| Credit monitoring or identity theft protection services | 81 | 0.4% |
| Issue where my lender is my school | 72 | 0.4% |
| Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes | 53 | 0.3% |
| Unable to get your credit report or credit score | 12 | 0.1% |
Sub-products
| Sub-product (CFPB label) | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Federal student loan servicing | 15,560 | 80.2% |
| Private student loan | 3,836 | 19.8% |
How companies responded
- Closed with explanation12,706 · 65.5%
- Untimely response5,300 · 27.3%
- In progress1,073 · 5.5%
- Closed with non-monetary relief269 · 1.4%
- All other categories48 · 0.2%
| Measure | This category | All categories |
|---|---|---|
| Closed with monetary or non-monetary relief | 1.7% | 31.6% |
| Closed with monetary relief | 0.3% | 0.5% |
| Responses marked timely | 69.6% | 99.6% |
| Complaints tagged servicemember | 8.1% | 1.5% |
| Complaints tagged older American | 2.7% | 0.7% |
National trend
By state, per 100,000 residents
| State | Complaints, 12 months | Per 100,000 residents |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 95 | 13.7 |
| Georgia | 1,213 | 10.7 |
| Delaware | 97 | 9.20 |
| Maryland | 549 | 8.80 |
| Alabama | 422 | 8.10 |
| Pennsylvania | 928 | 7.10 |
| Hawaii | 102 | 7.10 |
| New Jersey | 669 | 7.00 |
| South Carolina | 384 | 6.90 |
| Louisiana | 313 | 6.80 |
| Connecticut | 243 | 6.60 |
| Virginia | 577 | 6.50 |
| Florida | 1,512 | 6.40 |
| Illinois | 820 | 6.40 |
| North Carolina | 710 | 6.30 |
The 15 states with the highest rate; national rate 5.70. Filing rates also reflect how widely the CFPB is known in a state.
Questions and answers
How many Student loan complaints does the CFPB receive?
19,396 in the 12 months to 30 Sep 2026, against 20,829 in the 12 months before, and 134,129 since 2012.
Which companies receive the most complaints in this category?
By count, MOHELA (6,917), Nelnet, Inc. (3,522), Maximus Federal Services, Inc. (2,327) in the last 12 months. Counts follow company size: “When looking at complaint volume about a company or product, consider company size and/or market share. For example, companies with more customers may have more complaints than companies with fewer customers.”
What are the complaints about?
The issues selected most often: “Dealing with your lender or servicer” (57.1%), “Struggling to repay your loan” (18.4%), “Incorrect information on your report” (15%), “Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem” (4.4%).
How do companies respond?
Across the category: 65.5% closed with an explanation, 1.4% closed with non-monetary relief, 0.2% closed with monetary relief, and 5.5% still in progress when the file was published. 69.6% of responses were timely.
Does the CFPB verify complaints?
The CFPB does not verify every allegation in a complaint before publishing it. A complaint is the consumer's account; the company's response is recorded beside it.
Provenance
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Complaint Database, bulk file downloaded 30 Sep 2026, complaints received through 30 Sep 2026. Only coded fields are used (company, product, sub-product, issue, state, dates, company response, timeliness); complaint narratives are never read, stored or shown. Complaints are published once the company responds or after 15 days, so the most recent two to three weeks are incomplete. Size measures: FDIC BankFind (report date 30 Jun 2026), NCUA call reports (30 Jun 2026), HMDA transmittal sheet (2025), Census Bureau population estimates (2025). All are US government works. Search the CFPB database · Methodology · Report an error.