I am a bit confused as to how the loan is now greatly affecting your score.
If it is having scoring impact, it would be showing derogs, such as monthly delinquencies and/or a charge-off.
It is those derogs that would be negatively impacting scoring.
Update of the debt to $0 does not indicate that the debt was paid, only that the reporting creditor is no longer asserting a debt.
Options would include their having sold the debt to another, or they cancelled the debt.
It might indicate the possible reporting of a collection, which could be avoided if the new owner is contacted and the debt paid.
What derogs are showing under the loan?
Was it a federal or private student loan?
