Credit Reports and Your Student Loans

Credit reports contain a large amount of information in few words. Know the meaning of information contained in your report to understand what your credit report fully says about your credit history.

Multiple Iowa Student Loan Listings

Your credit report may have multiple listings from Iowa Student Loan due to multiple loan disbursements. When schools request multiple disbursements, each disbursement is a separate loan and is reported to the national consumer reporting agencies as a separate loan.

If you receive a merged credit report, containing information from more than one agency, you may also find multiple listings for Iowa Student Loan. These listings may appear as duplicates of the same loan due to reports being combined. If you request individual credit reports from each of the national consumer reporting agencies, you will see that the loans are not duplicated.

Account Information and Payment History

Loan account information, including the current status, payment rating, date closed and payment history, remains on your credit history for seven years. Paying an account in full will not remove accurately reported historical data.

Delinquency

If you previously had a delinquency on your account, bringing that account current will not remove a delinquency that has already occurred. However, bringing the account current, either by making a payment or obtaining available assistance, will prevent additional reporting of a previously past due payment. Your payment history will be accurately reported in compliance with Iowa Student Loan policy and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Status Fields and Ratings

Most credit reports contain a status field and a payment rating field in addition to the historical payment data. The status field reflects the current repayment status reported to the national consumer reporting agencies. The payment rating field displays, at a glance, the highest historically reported delinquency on the account. Information in the payment rating field does not necessarily show the current status of the loan.

Student Loan Credit Limits

Student loans are installment loans, which like mortgages and automobile loans, do not have credit limits. Credit limits are established for revolving credit lines, like credit cards, that do not have fixed repayment terms. When you review student loan details on your credit report, you should consider the credit limit listed on the report as your current balance.