Navient has announced federal student loans they service, well not all of them, will be transferred to a company named Aidvantage that is part of Maximus Education, LLC.
Navient says, “Aidvantage is the federal loan servicing unit of Maximus Education, LLC, a company that has one mission – to help you manage the repayment of your federal student loan and support your financial success. Navient is working with Maximus Education (Aidvantage) to transfer its Department of Education servicing contract to them.” – Source
So Who is Maximus Education, LLC?
Maximus Education was formed on September 1, 2021, in Delaware.
An announcement from Maximus says, “Maximus received all necessary approvals from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). Maximus replaces Navient as the contractor for loan servicing of 5.6 million Department of Education-owned student loan accounts.” – Source
Maximus says they are located in Virginia.
The State of Virginia says Maximus Education, LLC registered in Virginia on 10/22/2021 08:16 AM, and references the Delaware registration as their state of formation.
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The Manager of the LLC is listed as Teresa Weipert. Teresa “Terry” Weipart was announced as the Maximus U.S. Federal Services Segment General Manager on April 1, 2021. – Source
The press release goes on to say Terry has a business career that “has focused on generating significant growth with particular expertise in business process outsourcing and IT services management.”
“I am honored and excited to join Maximus, as the company continues to differentiate itself from competitors through its technology and approach to citizen services,” said Weipert. “I am looking forward to building upon the foundation laid by Tom and the Maximus team over the past ten years and taking it to new heights. With the passing of the American Rescue Plan last month, Maximus is ready to assist a vast number of federal agencies to navigate our new normal.”
The press release says “Since 1975, Maximus has operated under its founding mission of Helping Government Serve the People®, enabling citizens around the globe to successfully engage with their governments at all levels and across a variety of health and human services programs.”
Maximus Staff Coming From Navient
A posting from Maximus says “The accounts will transition to Maximus’s servicing division, Aidvantage, by year end, after a series of communications to borrowers. The loans will remain on the same student loan servicing technology platform, owned by Fiserv, and approximately 800 Navient employees who previously worked on the Department of Education loan servicing team will transfer to Maximus.”
“We look forward to supporting FSA as an independent, conflict free provider, committed to providing an enhanced focus on the borrower experience and to help fulfill FSA’s mission,” stated Teresa Weipert, General Manager, Maximus Federal Services.”
“We welcome our new colleagues joining us from Navient, many of whom have decades of service and bring a deep understanding of the borrower experience,” commented Weipert.
Call Me Cynical
I remain cynical of the hope that many of the Navient staff joining Maximus Education DBA Aidvantage will not bring their “decades of service and bring a deep understanding of the borrower experience.” Would that be the same understanding that has resulted in Navient being sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and many others?
Wait For It
Student loan borrowers are going to be confused by this switch from Navient to Maximus Education doing business as Aidvantage when not all their Navient loans will transfer. For example, the Navient website says, “Only your ED-owned loans are being reassigned to Aidvantage. If you have other loans (FFELP and/or private) with Navient, we will continue to service those for you. Because you will have two servicers – Aidvantage and Navient – once it’s official, you’ll need to manage those loans separately with each servicer – e.g., log in to different websites, make separate payments, and enroll in repayment plans independently.”
Buckle up buttercup. This is going to be a rough ride even though I’ve got my fingers crossed.