MOHELA

The Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri, aka the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, or MOHELA, is one of the largest holders and servicers of student loans nationwide. Headquartered in Chesterfield, MO MOHELA’s mission is to “ease the burden of financing higher education in Missouri while providing exceptional student loan services.”

MOHELA is a student loan servicer with more than 30 years of experience working with students and families. It is among the 10 largest student loan servicers. One of MOHELA's primary roles is to help borrowers effectively manage their student loans.

Created in 1981 as a quasi-governmental entity, MOHELA participated in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) for nearly three decades. While fully supporting a portfolio of legacy student loans through FFELP, MOHELA completed steps to become a contractor to service federal student loans. MOHELA received the first not-for-profit (NFP) contract and began servicing student loans owned by the federal government under the U.S. Department of Education Federal Loan Program in October 2011.

MOHELA was created, in part, to help students obtain low-cost education loans. By providing more than $300 million in loan forgiveness, MOHELA has helped Missouri students attend Missouri schools. To further support access to higher education and ease higher education costs for Missouri families, MOHELA formed the Missouri Scholarship Foundation, a tax-exempt nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.

More than 625 full-time MOHELA staff members work with the Department of Education, families, lenders, schools and students servicing upwards of $39 billion in student loans. A second loan servicing center opened in Columbia, MO in 2013.

As a “public instrumentality and body politic and corporate of the state of Missouri,” MOHELA was created in 1981 by legislation signed into law by Governor Christopher S. “Kit” Bond. MOHELA was established to “…assure that all eligible post-secondary education students have access to student loans” (RSMo 173.360). The “authority” is governed by seven board members operating on alternating five-year terms; five of whom are appointed by the Governor of the state of Missouri, subject to the advice and consent of the Missouri Senate, and two others are representatives from the Missouri Coordinating Board of Higher Education – one of which is a permanent seat to be filled by that agency’s commissioner.

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