While attending Cornell University, students may have borrowed loans from various sources. Information regarding Federal Direct loans, which are administered by the U.S. Department of Education through various student loan billing servicers, is available at studentaid.gov.

Billing Process

Student loan billing statements are sent out mid-month by ECSI. To change your delivery method from paper to electronic, sign in to your ECSI account. Payments are due by the first of the month. If payment is not received by the first of the month, your account will be considered past due, and you will be charged a late fee. If you do not receive a bill, you are still obligated to make your payment as scheduled.

Changing Your Billing Address

You must update your billing address through ECSI, or by calling an ECSI customer service advocate at 888-549-3274. Borrowers with a Direct Stafford or Plus Loan must contact the Direct Loan Servicing Center at (800) 848-0979, or update online with Direct Loan Servicing. Informing other offices on campus (e.g., the Office of the Bursar, Alumni Office) of a change of address is not sufficient.

Making Payment

Billing statements provide a payment stub and a return envelope with which to remit your payment. You may make payments to ECSI by mail, online through their website, using their EasyPath mobile app (for iOS and Android), over the phone using their automated payment assistant, or with a customer service advocate, and through bill pay services. Processing fees apply to some but not all payment methods. For more information, see What Fees Apply to My Payments.

ECSI does not charge for payments received by mail or recurring ACH payments. Any processing fee will be disclosed to you before you authorize your payment. ECSI accepts checks and money orders. Make checks payable to Cornell University and mail them to Cornell University, c/o ECSI, P.O. Box 718, Wexford, PA 15090.

Late Payments

Your student loan is a serious legal obligation. You must fulfill your obligation to Cornell according to the terms to which you agreed when you signed your promissory notes. We expect you to assign at least the same level of importance to your student loan obligation as you do to other forms of credit you will obtain after you leave Cornell, such as credit cards or automobile loans.

Prompt repayment is also important to future Cornellians, because your repayments are used to make loans available to them. This is your opportunity to assist students who depend on loan funds to continue their education.

Payment Distribution

If you have more than one loan, each payment is distributed among all your loans. If you want to have a payment applied to a specific loan account, you must include with your payment a letter to that effect.

Regardless of the loan type or number of loans, each payment is distributed in the following order:

1. Fees (late fees, NSF fees, etc.)
2. Past due interest
3. Past due principal
4. Current interest
5. Current principal

Get more information about Payments in Advance and Prepayments.