Frequently Asked Questions

Our vendor ECSI, manages our Perkins, Health Professional, Institutional, and past due Short Term Loans. All federal loans, Stafford, Unsubsidized Stafford, Grad Plus, and Parent Plus are managed by vendors that work in conjunction with the Department of Education.

For Federal loans you can go to nslds.ed.gov or studentloans.gov.  For loans handled by the University, go to https://heartland.ecsi.net/.  You can sign up for on-line access to your account. This enables you to manage your student loan account through their website.   It is critical that you keep in touch with the university and ECSI by providing us with your updated email, address and phone number so we can contact you with any changes/concerns about your loans. 

Contact ECSI, at 1-888-549-3274 or email cservice@ecsi.net to discuss your situation and they will provide you with any available options for you.

Certain loans provide benefits such as deferment, forbearance, loan rehabilitation or cancellation. These benefits can postpone payments, reduce payment amounts or cancel some or all of the principal loan balance. Other payment arrangements may be possible.

If you have a period of prolonged illness, unemployment, or other hardships that prevents you from making scheduled payments, you may qualify for a deferment or forbearance.   It is best to call ECSI and discuss your situation.  They will assist you and provide you the links to find the required forms.  Note:  there are other situations that may allow you to get a deferment or forbearance, so we encourage you to contact ECSI at 1-888-549-3274 or email cservice@ecsi.net

Defaulted Perkins Loans can be restored to current loan status through rehabilitation. To do so, the borrower must enter into a written payment agreement and voluntarily make nine (9) on time consecutive monthly payments in an amount determined by ECSI. If a Perkins Loan is successfully rehabilitated, eligibility for new Title IV financial aid will be reinstated, the original terms including deferment and cancellation benefits will be reinstated, and late payment history will be removed from the credit history. A borrower may rehabilitate a loan only once; if a loan goes into default again, the default status will continue until the loan is paid in full.

The university may declare a loan to be in default for failure to:

• Make a scheduled payment when due
• Submit to the university, on or before the due date of a scheduled payment, documentation of eligibility for forbearance, deferment, or cancellation; or
• Non-compliance with the terms and conditions of the Master Promissory Note or written repayment agreement.

The consequences for defaulting on a Perkins Loan may include, but is not limited to:

• Reporting to credit bureaus, delinquent debt collections procedures under Federal law, and litigation
• Referral to collections agencies and incurring additional charges
• Loss of eligibility for deferment, forbearance or cancellation benefits
• Loss of eligibility for future Title IV Federal financial aid (Perkins, Pell Grants, Federal Direct or Federal Family Education Loans, or any other Federal Aid)
• The loan may be accelerated, and the entire balance declared immediately due and payable, including principal, interest, late fees and collection costs.
• The loan may be assigned to the Department of Education for collections
• Inability to order official transcripts until the loan is paid current

In cases where payments are not made for an extended period of time, we will send you a number of notices, and if we do not hear back from you, you may be sent to collections. Your promissory note and/or The Financial Liability Agreement, which students sign at registration provides the information regarding collections and the costs of collection efforts. Collection fees are percentage based, determined by your balance and added to the amount our collection agencies manage. For example: Your past due loans are $10,000. If the collection fees are 40%, $4,000 is added to the amount sent to collections and you now owe $14,000!