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* Indicates that the term appears on the front of the billing statement.

16-digit Loan Group Number: The grouping of one or more loans displayed on a specific billing statement.*

Account Number: The 10-digit customer identification number located in the top right corner of the billing statement.*

Accrued interest: The amount of interest that has been charged to the loan during the billing period.*

Annual Percentage Rate (APR): The annual cost of borrowing, including all interest, fees, premiums, etc., expressed as an annualized percentage rate based on the expected term of the loan(s).

Billing Period: The period of time covered by the customer's billing statement.*

Capitalized interest: Unpaid Interest added to the Current Principal of a loan. Capitalized interest can increase the Current Principal.

Current Amount Due: The amount required to be paid each month until the loan is paid in full. The Current Amount Due may vary each month.*

Current Amount Due Date: The date by which the customer must pay the Current Amount Due each month. This is also the Due Date on the remittance slip.*

Current Balance: The sum of the Unpaid Interest, Unpaid Fees, and Current Principal. On the billing statement, the Current Balance is calculated as of the end date of the billing period reflected on the billing statement. If the customer logs in to their account at, or accesses our automated phone system, the Current Balance provided is calculated as of the prior day and includes all credits (e.g., payments) and debits (e.g., disbursements) since the last billing statement.*

Current Billing Period Interest and Fees: The accrued interest and any late or returned check fees that are being posted in the current billing period.*

Current Principal: The sum of the unpaid disbursed amount borrowed plus the unpaid Disbursement Fee (if any), plus any other amounts that have capitalized.*

Deferment: Temporarily postpone or reduce payments for a specific reason, such as going back to school, or participating in an internship or residency program.

Delinquency level: The number of billing periods which are past due.

Delinquent loan: A loan with a Past Due Amount.

Disbursement: When a lender sends loan funds to the school or borrower depending on the student loan product.

Disbursement Fee: A fee charged as a percentage of the disbursed amount borrowed, which is immediately added to the Current Principal.

FICO® Score: Credit scores created by Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) and widely used in lending decisions. Lenders can request FICO® Scores from all three major credit reporting agencies. Lenders use FICO® Scores to help make billions of credit decisions every year. Scores are based solely on information in consumer credit files maintained at the consumer reporting agencies. Learn about FICO® Scores.

Fixed interest rate: An interest rate that stays the same for the life of the loan.

Forbearance: A period during which payments are temporarily postponed under certain circumstances. Customers must apply for forbearance.

Interest Rate: The rate charged to borrow money.*

Late Fee for Past Due Amount: The late fee that will be charged if the customer fails to pay the Past Due Amount by the date specified (which is referred to as "Pay Past Due Amount by this Date to Avoid Late Fee").*

LIBOR (London InterBank Offered Rate): LIBOR, an index, is the interest rate at which banks can borrow funds from other banks. It is a common rate used for loans and reflects the ups and downs of the market at large. LIBOR is often used as a basis for interest rates on private student loans.

Loan group: If a borrower has multiple loans serviced by Sallie Mae, we may automatically put them in a loan group. Each loan group has its own billing statement that shows all of the loans within that group and will be designated by a 16-digit Loan Group Number. The borrower may request to have loans ungrouped at any time during the life of the loan. Loans for cosigners are not put in a loan group.

Loan ID (Last 4 digits of the 16-digit Loan Number): The four-digit number in the Loan Information section on the billing statement, which matches the last four digits of a specific 16-digit Loan Number.*

Loan number: The 16-digit Loan Number on a billing statement that refers to a specific loan.*

Overpayment amount: Any amount paid in excess of the sum of the Past Due Amount + Current Amount Due.

Past Due Amount: The sum of the unpaid amounts of each Current Amount Due from any month the customer was required, but failed to pay the Current Amount Due by the Current Amount Due Date.*

Pay Ahead: Under the pay ahead feature of a loan, paying more than the Current Amount Due (and any Past Due Amount) in the current billing period will reduce the Current Amount Due in the following billing period(s). For example, if a loan is current and the Current Amount Due in both January and February is $100, making a $200 payment in January would satisfy the Current Amount Due for both months. Although the February billing statement will reflect a Current Amount Due of $0, paying any amount that month may reduce the Total Loan Cost.

Payment allocation: How a payment is distributed across multiple loans. If the payment is received with the remittance slip on the billing statement, we will automatically allocate the payment to all of the loans in that loan group. Learn about payment allocation.

Payment application: Once we allocate a payment to a specific loan, payments are applied based on the terms of each loan’s Promissory Note, usually first to Unpaid Fees, then to Unpaid Interest, and then to Current Principal.

Payoff amount: The amount required to pay off the loan in full. The payoff amount includes all Unpaid Interest through the payoff date.

Previous Billing Statement Balance: The Current Balance from the previous billing statement.*

Prime rate: An interest rate that large commercial banks charge their clients with the best credit ratings (usually large businesses). The prime rate can be used as a basis for interest rates for private student loans.

Remittance slip: The bottom portion of the billing statement that needs to be included with the payment if sent by mail.*

Scheduled Payment Amount: This is displayed in the loan summary of your billing statement. If your loan is not paid ahead, the Current Amount Due and the Scheduled Payment Amount will be the same. If your loan is paid ahead, the Scheduled Payment Amount shows you what the Current Amount Due would have been if your loan was not paid ahead.*

Separation or grace period: The period of time after the customer leaves school or no longer meets enrollment requirements before the loan enters principal and interest repayment. For Smart Option Student Loan® customers, this period is typically six months. The selected in-school repayment option (interest repayment option, fixed repayment option, or deferred repayment option) continues during this time.

Total Amount Due: The sum of the Past Due Amount, Current Amount Due, and Unpaid Fees.*

Total Disbursed Amount: The total amount of loan funds sent to the school or borrower. Funds that have not yet been disbursed will not be included.

Total Loan Cost: The actual sum of all payments the customer will make to pay the loan in full.

Unpaid Fees: The sum of any fees (e.g., Late Fees, Returned Check Fees) that have been assessed, but not paid.*

Unpaid Interest: The interest that has accrued, but not been paid.*

Variable interest rate: An interest rate that may go up or down due to an increase or decrease to the loan's index.