The Federal Government reimburses guarantee agencies for defaulted loans, hence the term guaranteed student loan'. The holder is simply the organization that owns your loan, and to whom you owe repayment. In many cases, the lender and the holder are one and the same. However, some lenders sell your loan to other institutions to help free up money to loan to other students. The new institution that buys the loan is now the holder.
Secondary markets are companies that buy loans from lenders.
In this regard, they become the holder of the loan. The servicer is likely THE most important organization involved in your student loans. The servicer is the organization the holder of your loans contracts with to work with you on repayment issues. This is called servicing'. Many loan programs now offer what is called life of loan servicing', meaning that even if a borrower's loans are sold, the same organization will service them throughout repayment.