Federal Student Loans

Once your FAFSA® has been processed, Loan Offers are added to the Financial Aid Portal, where they can be accepted or denied by clicking on “Review and Update.”

• It is your responsibility to review all terms and conditions of your loan.
• Choose to accept all, part, or none of the loan.
• If your loan is for two semesters, it will disburse in two equal portions.
• Subsidized loans must be accepted before Unsubsidized.
• Loans do not have to be declined – they will only disburse if you have accepted them.
• You can override a declined loan later by accepting loan amounts.

How will I get them?

• Loans go to your student account and automatically pay for school costs.
• Leftover funds can be sent to you through eRefund.
  
  Sign up at Refunds

When will I get them?

• Accepted before school starts: loans should be disbursed to your student account during the first week of the semester.
• Accepted after the semester starts: should disburse in 3-5 business days

It may take a few days for the school to receive your loan funds and process refunds to your bank account.


Once you have accepted your federal loans, they can be managed from your studentaid.gov account. Within your studentaid.gov account you are able to:

• Keep contact information up to date.
• Find your loan servicer's contact information.
• Talk to your loan servicer if you are having issues making payments:
  
  Loan Deferment (pausing payments)
  Loan Forbearance (temporary pause or reduced payments)
  Loan Consolidation combines several existing loans into one new loan
  
• If you have received loans and are leaving on a mission, you are still responsible for those loans. You will be required to make loan payments while you are away. Contact your loan servicer to make arrangements.
• Receive important updates about interest, enrollment changes, grace periods, and repayment obligations.

Federal student loans must be repaid according to the terms of your Master Promissory Note (MPN). Before borrowing, you are responsible for reviewing loan terms, interest rates, fees, and available repayment options.

Repayment begins six months after you:

• Graduate, or
• Drop below half-time enrollment (fewer than 6 credits)

Payments are due after your six-month grace period ends.

Grace Period Information

Your grace period:

• Begins the day after you stop attending school at least half-time (6 credits).
• Ends the day before your repayment period begins.

Short breaks in enrollment (such as missing a semester) do not use your grace period. If you return to school within six months and enroll in at least 6 (PA) credits, you will still receive the full six-month grace period when you later graduate or drop below half-time again.

Preparing for Repayment

During your grace period, you should receive a Repayment Schedule from your loan servicer. If you do not receive one, contact your servicer directly.

The federal government’s Loan Simulator can help you explore repayment plan options and choose the plan that best fits your financial situation. Consider these sample repayment schedules created using the loan simulator.