All student loans are processed through the Department of Education's Direct Loan program. All new borrowers must complete a Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Entrance Counseling.
Please go to www.StudentLoans.gov. To sign in you will need your PIN - the same PIN you used for your FAFSA submission - to complete your Master Promissory Note and Entrance Counseling. The Department will notify us once you have completed both items.
After January 1st of each year, you can apply or reapply for financial aid (must be completed every academic year). Once you have completed your Federal tax returns, please go to www.FAFSA.gov to complete your application for the upcoming year.
Changes
to Federal Financial Aid for the 2012-2013 Award Year (effective July 1st,
2012)
All students—
-
When submitting the 2012-13 FAFSA form, all students are encouraged to request the
IRS retrieval option. By selecting the
IRS retrieval option students will allow the IRS to populate the income
sections of the FAFSA. This will save the filer time and reduce typing errors.
Students who completed their FAFSA with estimated information will be asked to
use the retrieval option once their 2011 Federal Income Tax Return is filed.
- Direct Loans will no longer have up-front rebate. This means that Stafford Loans will
have a 1% fee charged during disbursement and Plus Loans will have a 4% fee
charged during disbursement. For example, if you borrowed a $1000 Stafford Loan
only $990 will be disbursed to the school; for a $1000 Plus Loan only $960 will
be disbursed to the school.
Undergraduate Students—
-
The Dept. of Education has changed its methodology for calculating a student’s Estimated
Family Contribution (EFC) on the FAFSA form. If your family income does not exceed
$23,000 you will receive an automatic zero as your EFC, which means you would
be eligible for the maximum Pell Grant. This is a reduction from the previous maximum income of $32,000 for the 2011-2012 award year.
- Beginning in 2012,
students can only receive 12 semesters of Pell Grant eligibility (a total of
six years), down from 18 semesters previously (a total of nine years).
- There
will no longer be an interest subsidy for the six-month grace period on
Subsidized Stafford Loans. You do not have to make payments during the grace period
(unless you choose to) but the interest will be added (capitalized) to the
principal amount of your loan when the grace period ends. This provision does
not eliminate the interest subsidy while the borrower is in school or during
eligible periods of deferment.
- Subsidized loans for
which the first disbursement is on or after July 1, 2012, will have a 6.8%
fixed interest rate. Note: In the President's FY2013 budget request, the
Administration has proposed maintaining the interest rate on subsidized loans
at the current rate of 3.4% for the 2012-13 school year.
Graduate Students—
-
Effective July 1st, 2012 graduate level students will no longer be eligible
for Subsidized Stafford Loans. Students WILL still be eligible for Unsubsidized
Stafford Loans up to $10,250 a semester and for those needing additional
funding Graduate Plus Loans are also still available.
For more information on these changes please go to http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/recentChangesSA.jsp
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