MOHELA Student Loans Review: 5 Biggest Complaints About This Servicer

Is MOHELA your student loan servicer? If they weren't your original servicer, they might be now as FedLoan Servicing transferred all of their student loan accounts to MOHELA in 2022. Although MOHELA has historically been viewed as one of the better loan servicers, there's still common complaints that could cause you heartache in the future.

What is MOHELA?

MOHELA is an acronym for the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority. Their website is MOHELA.com. It's one of the largest nonprofit loan servicers in the United States. It's headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, with additional offices in Columbia, Missouri, and Washington, DC.

MOHELA was originally formed in 1981 to service loans from the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program. Now it services both private student loans and federal student loans, including all Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) accounts.

Top MOHELA complaints from borrowers

We surveyed over 3,900 readers in 2024 to learn about their experiences with student loan servicers. Here are the most common complaints we received about MOHELA.

1. MOHELA is forcing borrowers to recertify income too early

The Department of Education has repeatedly stated no borrower would be asked to recertify income for income-driven repayment (IDR) plans before March 1, 2024. However, MOHELA seems to have ignored that guidance based on the emails we receive from readers.

NOTE: Dept of Ed has delayed the IDR recertification date until September 30, 2024 at the earliest. So at least it seems like this particular error will be corrected over time en masse.

Here’s one reader’s experience with an inaccurate recertification date:

“When I submitted my ECF for PSLF, my loans moved from Great Lakes (which I loved) to MOHELA. My payment was $0, but for some reason MOHELA set my payment at $200. When I submitted my paperwork from Great Lakes to fix the payment amount, they fixed it but changed my income recertification date from 02/2025 to 04/2024. I've spent >6 months trying to fix this, and I have verified with several MOHELA supervisors that the national student loan database information shows my correct income recertification is 02/2025, but I'm still unsuccessful at fixing this. If this is not fixed, my $0 payments will end almost a year earlier than they should.”

– 2024 Student Loan Planner Reader Survey

Inaccurate recertification dates can be a huge hit to a borrower's finances. For example, if your IDR recertification date was February 1, 2024, it was supposed to get kicked out to February 2025. That would've meant an entire year of extra payments on a lower income tax return from 2018 or 2019.

However, MOHELA has been placing borrowers into a Standard 10 year plan monthly payment amount when borrowers ignore their request to recertify.

That would make sense if a borrower was supposed to recertify but didn't. But that's not what is occurring. MOHELA is simply ignored official guidance at a time when the Department of Education is overwhelmed with other projects.

If this happened to you, just be patient. Supposedly Department of Ed will correct it.

2. MOHELA’s customer service is lacking

A common thread with most complaints about MOHELA is their customer service. Common criticisms include borrowers being given bad, inconsistent or misleading information. Many borrowers also mentioned having difficulty communicating with the loan servicer, including long wait times on the phone and unanswered emails.

“Everything MOHELA does seems to be by the seat of their pants. Customer service, after long phone wait times, is very mediocre at best. Representatives seem limited, under-empowered and superficially trained. They are not problem solvers or troubleshooters; they simply communicate policy. I felt like it was me that provided direction to the MOHELA rep in order to take advantage of the new SAVE plan.”

– 2024 Student Loan Planner Reader Survey

3. PSLF borrowers run into processing issues

Federal student loan borrowers pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness experience issues with paperwork processing times and PSLF documentation mistakes. Most MOHELA complaints deal with its lack of understanding of PSLF. Borrowers often receive bad information about student loan forgiveness programs.

In a previous reader survey, one borrower shared that she contacted MOHELA about setting herself up to qualify for PSLF. Years later, she discovered that none of her loan payments qualified, and she didn’t turn in the correct paperwork. She received different information whenever she spoke with a MOHELA customer service rep.

Another borrower made several phone calls to MOHELA, specifically requesting to be put on one of the PSLF-qualifying repayment options. The loan was eventually transferred to another loan servicer. The borrower found out that MOHELA set up the payments improperly. None of the monthly payments counted toward PSLF. The borrower estimated that MOHELA’s mistake cost them over $3,500 in extra payments.

These complaints are particularly concerning, considering MOHELA is now managing all PSLF accounts and TEACH Grant recipients.

The PSLF program is already confusing for borrowers because of its stipulations. You need to stay on top of your progress to make sure you’re making qualifying on-time payments properly, while maintaining eligible full-time employment in the public or nonprofit sector.

4. There are issues with MOHELA student loan transfers

There are times when student loans get transferred to and from different loan servicers, as is the case now with loans transferred from FedLoan Servicing. When this happens, loan information can get lost or mixed up. It's happening to some MOHELA borrowers.

For example, one borrower had their student loans transferred to MOHELA from another servicer. They claimed there were a number of errors that occurred during the transfer. The biggest error was the total loan balance doubled from $100,000 to $200,000. Despite several calls to MOHELA to fix this, at the time of their complaint, nothing had been changed in their online account.

5. Borrowers receive too many phone calls

Another common complaint about MOHELA is the number of phone calls borrowers receive. Most of these complaints are related to delinquent student loan payments.

According to one of our readers, he received constant phone calls, even if his student loan repayment was just a couple of days late. Another borrower with loans serviced by MOHELA said:

“My loan got about 9 days overdue. I owed them a $10 payment, and they called me multiple times, all hours of the day. I paid it, yet they still called for almost a week later with their auto calling robot crap, interrupting my work day, etc. It's ridiculous.” – 2022 Student Loan Planner Reader Survey

Another reviewer said MOHELA employees started calling their in-law's house when the loan became delinquent by 21 days.

While many borrowers have trouble getting in touch with MOHELA when they need help, it seems like MOHELA is overly aggressive for borrowers who run into issues making payments.

Reader tips for MOHELA borrowers

Not all of our survey respondents had negative encounters with MOHELA. In fact, some borrowers have found MOHELA to be particularly helpful in navigating the student loan system.

“Just spent an hour on the phone with a rep from MOHELA yesterday. He was very helpful and I was pleasantly surprised by the interaction. It takes a little while to get through the menu to get prompted for a representative, and after that I did have to get transferred once.”

– 2024 Student Loan Planner Reader Survey

If MOHELA is your student loan servicer, be sure to:

• Be proactive and persistent. This includes calling frequently, asking focused questions about specific circumstances, and being diligent in following up on paperwork or requests.
• Practice patience and understanding. Loan servicers are overwhelmed with payments restarting and major transitions and program changes, such as the IDR Waiver. Once you’re able to get through to a representative, try to maintain a positive attitude. These representatives are only as good as their training, and they’re on the front lines of a poorly designed student loan system.
• Take an active role in your student loan repayment. Loan servicers are known for fumbling paperwork. Don’t blindly trust that it’s all going to work out as it should. Keep track of your payments, including your PSLF or IDR payment count.

Here’s some great advice from one of our readers:

“If you need help, call the department that handles your specific situation (PSLF).  If you get someone on the phone who doesn't seem “sharp”, hang up and call back. Get professional help – it could save you 1-100x the cost of messing up your loan forgiveness.”

– 2024 Student Loan Planner Reader Survey

MOHELA student loan: What can you do if MOHELA is your servicer?

Despite some borrower issues that resulted in negative reviews, MOHELA isn’t seen as poorly as other loan servicers. But the Better Business Bureau downgraded the loan servicer from an A+ in October 2022 to a B rating. The BBB also issued an alert for MOHELA, saying, “BBB received an increase in MOHELA complaints due to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.” That said, as of February 2024, the MOHELA has an NR rating as its file is being reviewed or updated.

If you're having issues, you can file a complaint directly with the MOHELA Ombudsman by submitting a formal request by mail to: MOHELA Ombudsman, 633 Spirit Drive, Chesterfield, MO 63005. You can also fax your complaint to 1-866-222-7060.

If MOHELA is your loan servicer and you aren’t happy with their service, know that you don’t have to stay with them. At Student Loan Planner®, we can help you find the best way to repay your loans.

This could mean consolidating your loans to a new servicer with a Direct Consolidation loan. Another option is to refinance your loans through a private lender. Student loan refinancing allows borrowers to get a new loan term and potentially lower rates by taking out a refinancing loan with an online lender like SoFi® or another financial institution. However, there are many repayment strategies to explore to ensure you're maximizing your finances.

The repayment of your student loans is one of the most important financial decisions you’ll face. You don’t have to put up with a bad loan servicer if you’re unsatisfied.