States › California › Student loan
Who in California 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.
California consumers filed 1,915 complaints under “Student loan” in the 12 months to 1 Oct 2026, about level with the 1,972 of the 12 months before. That is 4.90 per 100,000 residents, close to the national 5.70.
The category makes up 0.3% of the state's complaints, against 0.3% nationally. 1.1% of closed complaints ended with monetary or non-monetary relief (1.7% nationally) and 67.9% of responses were timely.
Companies with the most Student loan complaints from California, with their size
Ordered by complaints from California consumers in the last 12 months. Size is the company's national figure.
| Company (as named by the CFPB) | Complaints from CA, 12 months | Share | Company size |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOHELA | 727 | 38% | no public measure |
| Nelnet, Inc. | 305 | 15.9% | no public measure |
| Maximus Federal Services, Inc. | 217 | 11.3% | no public measure |
| Servicer under contract with Federal Student Aid | 153 | 8% | no public measure |
| EdFinancial Services | 132 | 6.9% | no public measure |
| SLM CORPORATION | 65 | 3.4% | no public measure |
| Central Research Inc | 52 | 2.7% | no public measure |
| Navient Solutions, LLC. | 43 | 2.2% | no public measure |
| Climb Credit Inc. | 42 | 2.2% | no public measure |
| SOFI TECHNOLOGIES, INC. | 23 | 1.2% | $57bn assets |
| Goal Structured Solutions, LLC | 22 | 1.1% | no public measure |
| AES/PHEAA | 16 | 0.8% | no public measure |
| TRANSWORLD SYSTEMS INC | 13 | 0.7% | no public measure |
| TRANSUNION INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS, INC. | 11 | 0.6% | no public measure |
| HEARTLAND PAYMENT SYSTEMS INC | 9 | 0.5% | no public measure |
| EQUIFAX, INC. | 7 | 0.4% | no public measure |
| Earnest Inc. | 7 | 0.4% | no public measure |
| Ascent Holding Co | 6 | 0.3% | no public measure |
| All other companies, including those not listed by name | 65 | 3.4% | — |
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. 1 of the 18 companies in this table has 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
| Issue (CFPB label) | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Dealing with your lender or servicer | 1,153 | 60.2% |
| Struggling to repay your loan | 316 | 16.5% |
| Incorrect information on your report | 228 | 11.9% |
| Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem | 108 | 5.6% |
| Getting a loan | 53 | 2.8% |
| Improper use of your report | 22 | 1.1% |
| Issue with income share agreement | 13 | 0.7% |
| Credit monitoring or identity theft protection services | 9 | 0.5% |
| Issue where my lender is my school | 9 | 0.5% |
| Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes | 4 | 0.2% |
How companies responded
- Closed with explanation1,227 · 64.1%
- Untimely response531 · 27.7%
- In progress137 · 7.2%
- Closed with non-monetary relief17 · 0.9%
- All other categories3 · 0.2%
| Measure | California, this product | United States, this product |
|---|---|---|
| Complaints per 100,000 residents, 12 months | 4.90 | 5.70 |
| Closed with monetary or non-monetary relief | 1.1% | 1.7% |
| Responses marked timely | 67.9% | 69.5% |
Trend
Other products in California
Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports · 568,797Debt collection · 27,438Credit card · 14,491Checking or savings account · 11,828Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service · 4,656Mortgage · 3,872Vehicle loan or lease · 2,757Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan · 2,119
Questions and answers
How many Student loan complaints come from California?
1,915 in the 12 months to 1 Oct 2026, 1,972 in the 12 months before and 13,591 since 2011.
Is that high for the population?
4.90 per 100,000 residents in California against 5.70 nationally.
Which issues come up most?
“Dealing with your lender or servicer” (60.2%), “Struggling to repay your loan” (16.5%), “Incorrect information on your report” (11.9%), “Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem” (5.6%).
Does the CFPB verify complaints?
The CFPB does not verify every allegation in a complaint before publishing it.
Provenance
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Complaint Database, bulk file downloaded 1 Oct 2026, complaints received through 1 Oct 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.