Why is Aidvantage suddenly claiming interest on my daughter's subsidized FAFSA loans while she's still in school?

This definitely sounds like an error. Subsidized loans should NOT accrue interest while she's enrolled at least half-time or during grace periods. My guess is there might be a system glitch with Aidvantage's takeover of loan servicing. Have you checked her actual loan status on studentaid.gov directly (not through the Aidvantage emails)? That would show the official status.

the same thing happened 2 my son last month!! the emails said he was in repayment status even tho hes a junior. we ignored them at first but then his account actually showed interest!! had to call and wait 4ever to fix it

I've noticed Aidvantage makes A LOT of mistakes since they took over federal loan servicing. There's been a huge increase in these kinds of errors. The problem is that if you don't catch and dispute these errors quickly, they can be harder to fix later. You need to: 1. Screenshot everything in her studentaid.gov account showing current enrollment 2. Call Aidvantage directly (not through studentaid.gov) to dispute the interest 3. Ask for a loan verification certificate showing her in-school deferment status 4. Get a case number for your dispute 5. Follow up in writing through their secure message center If they claim her school didn't report her enrollment correctly, have your daughter contact her school's financial aid office immediately to confirm her enrollment status was properly reported to NSLDS (National Student Loan Data System).

This happened to me too!!! I was getting those scary emails even though I'm still in my spring semester. I ignored them thinking it was spam but then I checked my account and they had actually started charging interest?!?! My roommate said it happened to her cousin too. I think its a big glitch with the new system maybe?

I work in a university financial aid office, and we've been getting TONS of calls about this exact issue since February. It's definitely an Aidvantage error related to their system migration. What's happening is that during the transition from previous servicers, some enrollment data didn't transfer correctly. Many students are incorrectly showing as "graduated" or "below half-time" in their system, triggering these automated interest notifications. The fastest solution is to have your daughter request an enrollment verification letter from her university's registrar (usually available instantly through her student portal). Then contact Aidvantage with this documentation. They'll update her status and reverse any incorrect interest. DON'T ignore this! While it is an error, if not corrected, it can eventually affect her credit and create a huge administrative headache.

The ENTIRE student loan system is COMPLETELY BROKEN!!!! I've been dealing with these exact same errors for months with my own loans! Aidvantage is THE WORST loan servicer ever and nobody at the Department of Education seems to care that they're causing massive problems for millions of students! I've called over 20 TIMES trying to get my enrollment status fixed and keep getting disconnected or transferred around in circles. Then they put incorrect information on my credit report!!! This is CRIMINAL negligence and someone should start a class action lawsuit against them!!

If you're having trouble reaching a real person at Federal Student Aid or Aidvantage, I'd recommend trying Claimyr. I was dealing with a similar issue where my loans were incorrectly put into repayment while I was still enrolled, and I spent hours on hold without ever reaching anyone. I found this service at claimyr.com that got me connected to an agent within 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The FSA agent was able to place an immediate hold on the incorrect interest charges while they investigated, and then permanently fixed my enrollment status. Saved me weeks of stress and prevented potential credit issues. Just sharing since it sounds like you might be facing the same frustrating phone loops I was.

Quick update on this issue: FSA released a statement yesterday acknowledging the widespread enrollment status errors with Aidvantage accounts. They've promised to have all incorrect interest charges automatically reversed by the end of next month. HOWEVER, they're still recommending that affected borrowers contact Aidvantage to get their status corrected immediately rather than waiting for the automatic fix. Apparently the automatic process only covers accounts they've identified in their internal audit, but they admit it might not catch all affected accounts.

I'm a new student dealing with this exact same issue! Just got my first batch of these scary emails from Aidvantage last week saying interest is starting on my subsidized loans, even though I'm currently enrolled full-time in my freshman year. Reading through all these comments is both reassuring (knowing it's a widespread error) and terrifying (seeing how much trouble people are having getting it fixed). I'm definitely going to follow the advice here about getting an enrollment verification letter from my registrar and calling Aidvantage immediately. Has anyone found that certain times of day are better for actually reaching a human at Aidvantage? I tried calling yesterday but gave up after 45 minutes on hold. Also wondering if it helps to have your parents call on your behalf or if they need to speak directly with the student borrower? Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this thread has been incredibly helpful for understanding what's going on!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm a college senior and thankfully haven't experienced this issue myself, but my younger sister is a sophomore and just started getting these same emails from Aidvantage last week. After reading everyone's experiences here, I'm going to have her check her studentaid.gov account immediately and get that enrollment verification letter from her registrar. It's honestly shocking how widespread this problem seems to be. The fact that a "system migration error" can incorrectly trigger interest on subsidized loans for so many students is really concerning. These kinds of mistakes can have serious financial consequences if not caught quickly. For anyone still dealing with this - based on what everyone has shared, it sounds like the key steps are: 1) Document everything with screenshots, 2) Get official enrollment verification from your school, 3) Call Aidvantage early morning for shorter hold times, and 4) Don't ignore it hoping it goes away. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and solutions!

I'm a college counselor who helps students navigate financial aid issues, and I've been seeing this exact problem constantly since January. What's particularly frustrating is that Aidvantage's customer service reps often don't understand the difference between subsidized and unsubsidized loans, so you might get incorrect information even when you do reach someone. A few additional tips based on what I've learned from helping my students: 1. When you call Aidvantage, immediately ask to speak with the "Federal Student Aid specialist" - not general customer service. These specialists are better trained on in-school deferment rules. 2. If they claim your school didn't report enrollment correctly, ask them to check the NSLDS database in real-time while you're on the phone. Most enrollment reporting issues are on Aidvantage's end, not the school's. 3. Document the name and employee ID of whoever you speak with, plus get a case reference number. This makes follow-up calls much easier. 4. If the first rep can't help, politely hang up and call back. The quality of help varies dramatically between different representatives. The silver lining is that once this gets fixed, it usually stays fixed. But you absolutely cannot ignore those emails - I've seen students end up with hundreds of dollars in incorrect interest charges that took months to reverse.

I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now! My son is a junior and we just got hit with a flood of these Aidvantage emails claiming interest is starting on his subsidized loans. Like everyone else here, this came completely out of nowhere - no issues with his freshman or sophomore year loans until now. After reading through all these comments, I'm both relieved to know it's a widespread system error and terrified about how much work it's going to take to fix. The fact that some people have had actual interest charges appear on their accounts is really concerning. I'm going to follow the advice here and have him get an enrollment verification letter from his registrar today, then call Aidvantage first thing tomorrow morning asking specifically for a "Federal Student Aid specialist" like Christian suggested. I'll also take screenshots of everything on studentaid.gov showing his current enrollment status. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - this thread has been a lifesaver for understanding what we're dealing with. It's frustrating that students and families have to become experts in loan servicing errors just to protect themselves, but at least there's a clear path forward based on what everyone has shared here.

I'm also new to this community and dealing with federal student loans for the first time with my daughter who's a freshman. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been both eye-opening and helpful - I had no idea these kinds of system errors were so common with Aidvantage! My daughter hasn't received any of these incorrect interest notifications yet, but after seeing how widespread this issue is, I'm going to be much more proactive about monitoring her accounts. I've already bookmarked studentaid.gov and plan to check her enrollment status regularly. For those who have successfully resolved this issue - how often do you recommend checking loan accounts to catch potential errors early? And are there any other red flags or warning signs we should watch out for beyond the obvious interest notification emails? Thanks to everyone for sharing such detailed experiences and solutions. As someone completely new to navigating federal student aid, threads like this are invaluable for learning what to expect and how to protect ourselves from these kinds of system errors.

I'm new to this community and currently a freshman dealing with federal student loans for the first time. This thread has been incredibly eye-opening! I haven't received any of these Aidvantage interest emails yet, but after reading everyone's experiences, I'm definitely going to start monitoring my accounts much more closely. A few questions for those who've been through this: Is there a way to set up alerts or notifications when changes are made to your loan status? And should I be proactive about contacting my school's financial aid office to confirm they're properly reporting my enrollment to NSLDS each semester, or is that something that typically happens automatically? I'm also wondering if there are any patterns to when these errors tend to occur - like specific times during the semester or academic year when the system is more likely to glitch? Thanks to everyone for sharing such detailed advice. As someone completely new to navigating this system, having this kind of community support and real-world guidance is invaluable. I feel much better prepared to handle any issues that might come up with my loans now!

I'm also new to dealing with federal student loans and just joined this community after experiencing the exact same issue! My daughter is a sophomore and we started getting these alarming Aidvantage emails about interest accruing on her subsidized loans just last week, even though she's currently enrolled full-time. After reading through everyone's experiences here, I feel so much more informed about what we're dealing with. It's both reassuring to know this is a widespread system error and concerning to see how many people have had actual interest charges appear on their accounts. I'm planning to follow the excellent advice shared here: getting an enrollment verification letter from her registrar today, taking screenshots of her studentaid.gov account showing current enrollment status, and calling Aidvantage tomorrow morning asking specifically for a "Federal Student Aid specialist." Thank you to everyone who has shared their experiences and solutions - this thread has been incredibly helpful for someone like me who is completely new to navigating these kinds of loan servicing issues. It's unfortunate that families have to become experts in catching system errors, but at least there's a clear path forward based on what everyone has shared here!