I discovered something wonky that may prevent problems for other loan-drones.

When I signed up for classes the university sent my student loan service provider a directive to put my loans into educational deferment. This means I am not required to pay but interest still accrues.

This deferment was unbeknownst to me.

So my auto-deduct payment should have gone out on the 28th. But it did not. So I looked into it and found out about this deferment.

Then I had to call and request that they lift this deferment, which takes at least 24 hours.

If all goes well I should have the deferment lifted tomorrow and be able to pay off this month's payment manually. Then next month's payment should go back to auto-deduction.

This is one of the many, many reasons one must check with your student loan servicer several times a month.