What to do when a Heartland ECSI account holder dies

For a Federal Perkins Loan, the school bases the cancellation on an original or certified copy of the death certificate, or an accurate and complete photocopy of it (34 CFR 674.61(b), reflected in ECSI's Perkins deferment/cancellation table). Send it with a short cover letter that gives the borrower's name, the ECSI account number, the school that made the loan, the date of death, and your name, relationship, and contact information. ECSI does not publish a separate death-discharge form, so the cover letter carries that information.

The school generally holds the loan; ECSI is the servicer. Federal Perkins Loans and other campus-based loans are made by colleges and universities, and ECSI (branded Heartland ECSI) administers billing, payments, deferments, cancellations, and tax reporting on the school's behalf. This matters when a borrower dies because the death certificate is submitted through ECSI but the school that holds the loan is the one that cancels a Perkins balance or decides how a non-federal institutional loan is treated. When you call 1-888-549-3274, confirm which school holds the account and where the school wants the documentation sent.

Not automatically. Only a Federal Perkins Loan is cancelled on death by federal regulation. A non-federal institutional or campus-based loan the school itself made (for example a health-professions, nursing, or institutional emergency loan) follows the promissory note the borrower signed — some notes cancel the balance on death, others make it a claim against the estate, and some leave a co-signer responsible. Read the original loan document, and ask ECSI or the school's bursar or student-accounts office what the specific note provides before assuming the balance is forgiven.

A tuition payment plan and past-due tuition and fees are receivables owed to the school, not federal student loans, so the federal death-cancellation rule does not apply. An unpaid balance is a debt of the estate and is settled through the estate unless the school's agreement provides otherwise. Contact ECSI at 1-888-549-3274, or the school directly, to confirm the balance and how it should be resolved.

Yes. Federal Student Aid states that federal student loans are discharged if the borrower dies, whether the loan is a Direct Loan, a Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loan, or a Federal Perkins Loan. For a Perkins Loan serviced by ECSI, the school cancels the balance on receipt of acceptable proof of death. Direct Loans and FFEL loans are discharged by their own servicers under the same principle. A private (non-federal) loan is a separate question governed by its own contract.

Mail the death certificate and a cover letter to ECSI, P.O. Box 1289, Moon Township, PA 15108, or, if you have borrower account access, upload it after logging in at heartland.ecsi.net. Do not send it to a school-specific payment PO box printed on a billing statement — those addresses are for loan payments, not correspondence. Call ECSI at 1-888-549-3274 first to confirm the account and where the school that holds it wants the documentation sent.

Call ECSI Student Loan servicing at 1-888-549-3274, Monday through Friday 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM ET; chat and an automated phone assistant are available around the clock. Have the borrower's name, ECSI account number or Social Security number, the school that made the loan, and the date of death ready. Written correspondence can be mailed to ECSI, P.O. Box 1289, Moon Township, PA 15108.