If you’ve borrowed federal student loans to pay for college and you start receiving letters or emails from Granite State Management & Resources (GSMR), don’t throw that letter away—it’s not a scam! Granite State is a federal student loan servicer, responsible for managing certain borrowers’ loans. If they’re writing to you, then that most likely means that they are your servicer.
Below, we take a closer look at who Granite State is, what they do, what kind of student loans they service, and answer any other questions you might have about their role in helping you repay your student loans.
Who is Granite State (GSMR)?
Granite State Management & Resources (GSMR) is one of the 11 student loan servicers that the U.S. Department of Education currently tasks with managing federal student loans.
Granite State was founded in 1986 in order to operate as a servicer for federal and private student loans. Currently, GSMR operates as a non-profit servicer of the Federal Direct Loan Program. It is a member of the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation (NHHEAF) Network, which was created in 2020 when its two component entities—Granite State and the New Hampshire Higher Education Loan Corporation (NHHELCO)—merged together.
The NHHEAF Network operates under a mission of helping New Hampshire families plan and pay for higher education. As such, any earnings that the company brings in by servicing federal or private loans are designed to be reinvested back into New Hampshire, typically in the form of charitable giving, free college planning services, cost-savings for borrowers, and default prevention.
What does Granite State do?
As a federal student loan servicer, Granite State is responsible for performing certain key duties that the federal government requires all servicers to perform. This includes:
- Processing student loan forms and paperwork
- Handling monthly student loan payments
- Generally managing your student loans
- Keeping track of payment due dates, statuses, and processing change requests
- Answering whatever questions you have about your student loans or repayment options
- Teaching you about deferment and forbearance, and helping you apply for each if you qualify and need to pause your payments
- Educating you about the different repayment plans you may qualify to enroll in
- Guiding you through the student loan forgiveness process, if you qualify
Types of Loans Serviced by Granite State
Granite State handles most types of federal student loans, including:
- Direct Subsidized Loans
- Direct Unsubsidized Loans
- Direct Parent PLUS Loans
- Direct Graduate PLUS Loans
- Direct Consolidation Loans
- Perkins Loans
- Stafford Loans
While Granite State does not directly lend private student loans to borrowers, EDvestinU, another member of the NHHELCO and sister organization to Granite State, does.
How to Contact Granite State (GSMR)
All student loan servicers exist to help you successfully repay your student loans. If you’re ever concerned that you won’t be able to make a payment, need to adjust your payment due date, or need to discuss your options for deferment, forgiveness, or repayment, you should immediately reach out to your servicer for guidance. The worst thing you can ever do is simply stop making payments hoping that your loan debt will go away!
Granite State’s business hours are 8am to 6pm Eastern time, Monday through Friday. They are closed on the weekend. You can contact them in a number of ways, which we list out below.
Granite State Phone
888-556-0022
Granite State Fax
603-227-5415
Granite State Email
For security purposes, you cannot contact Granite State by email to inquire about your student loan. That being said, you can log into your account online in order to make a payment or speak with a representative.
Granite State Mail
Correspondence can be sent to:
Granite State Management & Resources
P.O. Box 3420
Concord, NH 03302-3420
Payments can be sent to:
Department of Education
P.O. Box 441
Portland, OR 97208-4414
Alternatives to Granite State Servicing
If you haven’t had the best experience with Granite State, you may be looking for a way to transfer your student loans to a new servicer. Unfortunately, this typically isn’t possible—your servicer is chosen by the Department of Education, which typically does not transfer loans to new servicers due to borrower requests. That being said, you may be able to rectify the situation by either seeking consolidation or refinancing.
Student Loan Consolidation
Student loan consolidation is a process that you can go through to merge multiple federal student loans into a single new federal student loan, called a Direct Consolidation Loan. When you go through the process of consolidation, you are entitled to either request that you receive a new servicer or remain at the same servicer. While there is no guarantee that your preference will be honored, it often is.
There are many reasons that individuals choose to consolidate their student loans. It can bring a number of powerful benefits, such as making it less confusing to keep track of your student loans. But consolidation can also bring some negatives as well, such as removing certain repayment plan options or resetting the clock towards forgiveness, if that was something you were working towards. For that reason, you need to understand the pros and cons of student loan consolidation before you decide to move forward with it.
Student Loan Refinancing
Another option besides consolidation is refinancing through a private lender. When you refinance your federal student loans, you are essentially replacing them with a private loan. While this gives you ultimate control over who your servicer is (you get to choose your lender) and may even help you qualify for lower interest rates, it does typically mean that you are giving up certain borrower protections and benefits that federal student loans carry. As with consolidation, it’s crucial that you understand the pros and cons of refinancing your student loans before you make a decision either way.