American Education Services Review

American Education Services (AES) is a student loan servicer for Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program loans. FFEL loans include Stafford Loans, Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, Federal PLUS Loans, and Federal Consolidation Loans. The FFEL program was discontinued in June 2010, but because its loans are still in repayment, millions of borrowers still have AES as their loan servicer.

What Is American Education Service?

AES is owned by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) and was established to service and guarantee FFEL and some alternative private student loans. A student loan servicer doesn’t provide loans; it’s the middleman between the borrower and the student loan lender during the repayment period. AES also guarantees the loans, meaning it agrees to repay the debt should the borrower default.

The loans that AES services may be either private student loans or federal student loans borrowed through the FFEL program, but they won’t be any type of loan other than FFEL. AES will not be your servicer if you took out your loans after the FFEL program was discontinued on June 30, 2010.

If you’re unsure if AES is or was your loan servicer, you can sign into your federal student aid Account Dashboard or check your credit report to see if AES is listed.

Is AES a Government Agency?

The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency is a quasi-nongovernmental organization. It was established as a Pennsylvania state agency but is now run privately, with limited legislative oversight within its board of directors.

Is AES a Federal Student Loan?

While PHEAA offers private student loans known as PA Forward loans, you won’t find federal or private AES loans. FFEL was a program that permitted private lenders to provide federally guaranteed student loans and allowed the government to mandate specific interest rate levels for those loans. So, instead of lending, AES guarantees and services those lenders’ FFEL loans.

What Can American Education Services Help You With?

AES can help you with anything regarding student loan payments.

Access to your account: You can update your account information, get tax forms, and view billing and interest statements.

Repaying your student loans: You can set up autopay, sign up for income-driven repayment, change payment preferences, move your due date, and pay ahead.

Applying for financial hardship programs: You can apply for deferment and forbearance, reduced payments, postponing payments, and federal loan consolidation.

Loan forgiveness: You can see if you qualify for loan discharge, teacher loan forgiveness, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, and any benefits for service members.

How to Make American Education Services Payments 

Borrowers can easily access their account at AESSuccess.org and make payments online in 4 steps:

1. Sign into Account Access.
2. Click “Make a Payment.”
3. Enter your payment information (you can also save your bank account for future use.)
4. Hit the “Make a Payment” button.

You can also pay through the AES mobile app, by phone at 1-800-233-0557, or by mailing a check or money order payable to American Education Services to:

American Education Services
P.O. Box 65093
Baltimore, MD 21264-5093

Direct Debit is the easiest method for making payments to AES. Direct Debit sets up an electronic deduction from your checking or savings account on your due date each month, ensuring that your payments are on time, provided there are sufficient funds in the account. 

About American Education Services

You can contact AES by sending a secure email from within your account or by phone at 1-800-233-0557, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET. You can also send letters to:

AES Loan Services
P.O. Box 2461
Harrisburg, PA 17105-2461

There were 24 complaints submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2020 about AES. All received a timely response, and most were closed with an explanation—two resulted in monetary relief from the company, and two yielded non-monetary relief. Many of the narratives cited dissatisfaction with the company's responsiveness to customer issues or a lack of flexible repayment options as the primary problem.

American Education Services Lawsuit

PHEAA has been subject to multiple lawsuits by states for allegedly mistreating and abusing borrowers in the PSLF program. In February 2021, the loan servicer settled a class-action lawsuit brought forth by the Massachusetts attorney general that claimed PHEAA intentionally worked to extend the length of borrowers loans, converted grants into loans, and failed to properly inform applicants of the PSLF program’s requirements, resulting in a nearly 99% denial rate.

Is American Education Services Your Only Servicer?

If you have FFEL loans, AES is not your only loan-servicing choice. If you’d like to move your loans to another servicer, you have several options.

Refinance Your Loans

Refinancing your student loans through a private lender can potentially get you a lower interest rate, reduce your monthly payment, and help you pay off your loans early. It also changes your loan servicer. Investopedia has reviewed all of the best student loan refinance companies to help you find the right fit for you.

Consolidate Your Loans

When you consolidate your federal loans into one new federal direct loan, you can choose a new servicer. Note that consolidating loans could increase the weighted average of your previous interest rates by 0.125%.

Enroll in Public Service Loan Forgiveness

When you enroll in PSLF, your loans are automatically moved to FedLoan Servicing. Note that while operating under a different name, FedLoan Servicing is still PHEAA.

Learn More

Methodology

Investopedia is dedicated to providing consumers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of student loan lenders. We collected over 45 data points across more than 15 lenders—including interest rates, fees, loan amounts, and repayment terms—to ensure that our content helps users make the right borrowing decision for their education needs.