Written by: Matt Walker
Edited by: Lillian Guevara-Castro
Reviewed by: Adam West
Americans today carry more than $1.6 trillion in active student loan debt. Every second of every day, U.S. students accrue $2,858 in new debt.
Student loan debt can weigh down your credit score and make it hard to start your new life after graduation. If you have misreported information regarding your loans on your credit file, that weight can unfairly sink your ability to get a job, buy a home, or live the life that you deserve.
But the services listed below can work on your behalf to remove any false information on your credit report and get your credit score back to where it belongs — at the head of the class.
Student Loan Credit Repair Service Providers
Credit repair services help clients remove thousands of incorrect negative items on their credit reports each year. The keyword, though, is incorrect.
If you legitimately missed a payment or defaulted on a loan, a credit repair service cannot legally petition to have that item removed from your credit history. But if your credit report shows entries that aren’t yours — including late payments or negative items that should have already aged off your credit report — a credit repair service can work to remove those items and give your credit score a quick boost.
Here are our top choices for the best student loan credit repair services:
- Since 2004, Lexington Law Firm clients saw over 81 million items removed from their credit reports
- Get started today with a free online credit report consultation
- Cancel anytime
- See official site, terms, and details.
| Better Business Bureau | In Business Since | Monthly Cost | Reputation Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| See BBB Listing | 2004 | $99.95 | 8/10 |
Lexington Law is an actual law firm with attorneys and legal aides that work on your behalf to petition the credit reporting bureaus to have false information removed from your credit report. On average, clients see 10.2 items removed from their credit reports each month.
The firm’s services cost $99.95 per month, and the average client continues the service for six months.
- Best-in-class support
- In business since 1989
- Rapid 35-day dispute cycle, tailored to your situation
- 90-day 100% money-back guarantee
- Low $79 cost to get started, cancel or pause membership anytime
- See official site, terms, and details.
| Better Business Bureau | In Business Since | Monthly Cost | Reputation Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | 1989 | $79 | 9.5/10 |
Sky Blue Credit Repair initiates five disputes per bureau every 35 days as part of its $79 monthly plan. This is important because every bureau requires a separate dispute for every negative item on your report. The average client continues the service for six months, and the company offers a 100% money-back guarantee during the first 90 days of service.
- Free online consultation
- CreditRepair.com members saw over 8.6 million removals on their credit reports since 2012
- Free access to your credit report summary
- Three-step plan for checking, challenging and changing your credit report
- Online tools to help clients track results
- See official site, terms, and details.
| Better Business Bureau | In Business Since | Monthly Cost | Reputation Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| See BBB Listing | 2012 | $69.95+ | 8/10 |
CreditRepair.com offers a single service tier at $69.95 per month and boasts an average 40-point increase in TransUnion scores for clients in their first four months with the service. The company’s online portal allows clients to check the progress of their disputes in real time from their computers or through its mobile application.
Frequently Asked Questions about Student Loans & Credit
Graduation is a happy time in any student’s life. But that celebration can quickly turn sour if you’re hit with credit rejections because of false items on your credit report.
If you’re struggling to get your credit reports in order after identity theft or misreported information by a creditor, you probably have a lot of questions. Here are some answers to common questions about student loans and their effect on credit reports and scores.
Can Credit Repair Help with Student Loans?
Credit repair can help with any aspect of your financial life — as long as you have negative items that shouldn’t be on your credit report.
No matter what commercials or telemarketers say, a credit repair service cannot remove legitimate items from your credit report. If you have late payments, defaults, or other negative items that came from past financial mistakes, they will remain on your reports until they age off your report — which typically takes around seven years.
But if you’re a victim of identity theft — or if a lender reported inaccurate info about your account — you have the right to petition the credit reporting bureaus to have that information removed.
And, once it’s removed, you will likely see a substantial increase in your credit score. That will help you obtain new loans, refinance existing loans, and get better interest rates on future loans and credit.
How Bad Does a Defaulted Student Loan Hurt Your Credit?
No one takes out a loan with the intention of not paying it back. But life sometimes hands us circumstances that make it difficult to meet our financial obligations. When you miss a payment by 30 days, your account becomes delinquent.
Late payments aren’t reported to the credit bureaus until the payment is at least 30 days past due.
If you go 90 days without making a payment, the delinquency will be reported to the credit bureaus. Other lenders may report your late payment in as little as 30 days after a missed payment. This is when the dramatic effects of missing a payment will be reflected in your credit history.
The type of student loan you have will determine the point at which your account is in default. For example, loans borrowed from the Federal Family Education Loan Program may allow a period of up to 270 days before your account is in default, whereas Federal Perkins Loans may be in default anytime after a missed payment.
Defaulted student loans have dire consequences. Your payment history accounts for more than a third of your total credit score, and a single late payment can deduct up to 100 points from your score.
When you go into default, you not only hurt your credit, but you lose eligibility for additional federal student aid, your wages may be garnished, and the lender can sue you, among several other consequences.
How Long Do Student Loans Stay on Your Credit Report?
Negative items regarding your student loans — including defaults, collections, and late payments — will remain on your credit report for seven years. After the loan is repaid, it will remain on your credit reports for 10 years, but the negative items will still be deleted seven years after the delinquency was reported.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you maintain a positive payment history and don’t accrue any negative items on your account, you will reap the benefits of your hard work in your credit score.
While the negative items will certainly stain your credit report, the impact will lessen over time. That’s because lenders tend to look at recent history as a predictor of future behavior.
As your negative items age, and you hopefully replace them with positive account activity, they will factor less than more recent activity in your credit score.
How Can I Get Rid of Student Loans Without Paying?
Every loan requires repayment — and the government certainly expects to get its money back when it lends it to you for your education. That said, there are forgiveness programs that can wipe out part or all of your student loan debt, depending on your degree and/or career.
If you work in public service, certain education fields, or if you graduated from a school that is now closed, you may qualify for loan forgiveness or discharge. In some cases, student loans can be discharged during bankruptcy.
This is rare, though, as the paperwork you sign during the loan process tends to make your loans inadmissible in a bankruptcy filing. The best first step is to contact your loan servicer to ask what forgiveness programs they take part in.
Does Student Loan Forgiveness Hurt Your Credit?
Absolutely not. In fact, when you remove loan debt from your credit report through positive means (in other words, not by bankruptcy or collections), your credit score usually gets a boost.
The only instance in which your credit score may see a slight drop after you pay off your student loan is if it’s the only loan currently reported on your credit file. One factor used to calculate your credit score is your credit mix.
This looks at the types of debt you’re paying off. Lenders like to see a good mix of credit accounts — such as auto loans, personal loans, credit cards, and mortgages — to show you can responsibly handle multiple accounts and bills each month.
If you have no other loans on your profile, removing your only loan will impact your credit mix and cause a small, temporary decrease in your credit score. One way to easily recover is to open a new credit account that you only use for emergencies or get a loan to finance a small portion of your next vehicle.
One day, you’re going to need credit, and having a positive credit history will ensure you receive favorable rates and terms when that day arrives.
Don’t Let Misinformation Hold You Back
School is tough — but paying back the loans you accrue when you pursue a higher education can be even tougher. And misinformation on your credit reports can keep you from getting a job, buying a new home, or acquiring the items that make your entry into the real world easier.
But you don’t have to just sit back and accept those items as fact. With one of the best student loan credit repair services listed above, you can get your credit report in order and take the first step toward building your life after college.
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