Got Sallie Mae student loans? Read on.

I blogged about this when this was first announced, but it is a good time to remind everyone that Sallie Mae has split into two companies: Sallie Mae and Navient. This fall, Sallie Mae will be transferring the servicing and billing operations of federal student loans and certain private student loans to Navient. So if you have been dealing with Sallie Mae, you will likely soon be dealing with Navient instead.

This is not quite the same thing as one company selling your loans to another company. Rather, the servicing arm of Sallie Mae is branching off, becoming a separate company, and changing its name to Navient. Nevertheless, changes to student loan servicing can be a confusing and scary process if it comes as a surprise.

If you have student loans through Sallie Mae, what does this mean for you?

• You should receive an email or letter from Sallie Mae notifying you of any changes. If you do not receive an email or letter, you should contact Sallie Mae directly to confirm that your loans will be through Navient.
• Sallie Mae says that if you are enrolled in auto-debit, your payments should continue to be automatically withdrawn from your bank account. If I were you, I would monitor your bank account to make sure this is actually the case. If a payment is not withdrawn, contact Sallie Mae or Navient.
• If you make your payments manually each month via a check, Sallie Mae requests that you change the payee to Navient, but all other information can stay the same. Before making any changes to your billing practices, I suggest you contact Sallie Mae/Navient to confirm the details.
• Online payments will be made to Navient (not Sallie Mae) via Navient.com.

Want more information from Sallie Mae directly? Visit SallieMae.com/future, or contact the company by phone.