Student Financial Services

• Available to undergraduate students only who are enrolled in at least six credits (half-time). Loan amounts are pro-rated based on enrollment.
• Must have financial need, the difference between the cost of attendance (COA) at a school and your Student Aid Index (SAI). While COA varies from school to school, your SAI does not change based on the school you attend.
• Interest does not accrue while in school at least half-time (six credits or more) and/or during a period of deferment, a temporary postponement of payment on a loan that is allowed under certain conditions and during which interest generally does not accrue on Direct Subsidized loans.

• Available to undergraduate and graduate students who are enrolled at least half-time for the semester. Half-time status is 6 credits for undergraduate students and 5 credits for graduate students. Loan amounts are pro-rated based on enrollment.
  
• Interest begins to accrue (accumulate) on an unsubsidized loan at the time of disbursement (payment to the student account).
• During a period of grace, deferment/forbearance, your monthly loan payments are temporarily suspended or reduced, but interest will still accrue.
• Interest may be capitalized (added to the principal) after a period of forbearance, deferment of a grace period. It is recommended to pay the interest on your loan while still in school or before any period of non-payment runs out.

1. File a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
2. Accept all or a portion of the loans offered on your myHeliotrope account.
3. Complete the Annual Student Loan Acknowledgement (ASLA)
4. Is this your first time borrowing Federal Direct Loans? If so, you must complete these two additional steps through the Federal Student Aid website to have the loan pay to your account:

• Entrance Counseling:  Entrance Counseling counsels first-time Federal Direct Loan borrowers on the terms and conditions of the loan and of the borrower’s responsibilities.
• Master Promissory Note (MPN): The MPN is a legal document in which you promise to repay your loan(s) and any accrued interest and fees to the U.S. Department of Education. The MPN gives detailed descriptions on the terms and conditions of your loan(s). It includes information on how interest is calculated as well as deferment and repayments options available to you.

• For all Federal Loans (including federal Direct Subsidized, Unsubsidized, federal parent PLUS Loan and federal graduate PLUS Loan) all loan steps (including accepting the loan, completing promissory notes and entrance counseling, and any endorser filings for parent loans) must be completed prior to the last day of enrollment, while also allowing our office adequate time for processing any such loan. Any loan steps completed late may result in loans that are unable to be processed through the federal government.
• The federal government sets the interest rates and loan origination fees. These fees are listed on their website and updated annually.
• The federal government sets limits to amounts a student or parent can borrow. These amounts depend upon a student’s status as undergraduate or graduate; dependent or independent; grade level in college. There are per year limits as well as lifetime aggregate limits.

The interest rates on federal Parent PLUS loans are determined by the federal government for each academic year and are fixed (meaning they do not change) for the life of the loan.

 Please review the Federal Student Aid’s webpage to for information on how is interest calculated.

The origination loan fee is a percentage of the loan that kept by the federal government for processing the loan.

You can view the Federal Student Aid website to see current and past origination loan fees.

1. File a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
2. The parent must log-in with their own Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID) and apply on the PLUS loan application page of the Federal Student Aid website . A credit decision is immediate:
   • If approved, the Parent will want to also complete the Parent PLUS loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) on the same site.
   • If denied, three options are available:
     • Request a credit appeal.
     • Provide an endorser.
     • Not pursue the PLUS Loan: The student may use additional Direct Unsubsidized Loan. Additional Unsubsidized loan funding is available up to $4,000/academic year for first and second year students (59 or less credit hours earned); and up to $5,000/academic year for third and fourth year students (60 or more credit hours earned).

The interest rates on federal Parent PLUS loans are determined by the federal government for each academic year and are fixed (meaning they do not change) for the life of the loan.

Please review the Federal Student Aid’s webpage to for information on how is interest calculated.

The origination loan fee is a percentage of the loan that kept by the federal government for processing the loan.

You can view the Federal Student Aid website to see current and past origination loan fees.

1. File a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
2. Graduate students must log-in with their FSA ID and apply for the Graduate PLUS loan. A credit decision is immediate: 
   • If approved, complete the Master Promissory Note and Entrance Counseling selecting that you are a Graduate student. 
   • If denied, two options are available:
     • Request a credit appeal.
     • Provide an endorser.

Private loans are education credit based loans that are offered by several financial lending institutions. Not everyone will credit qualify for these loans. Private loans are designed to finance your remaining cost of attendance after all other sources of federal aid are exhausted.

Purchase College strongly encourages you to complete your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to receive the Federal Direct Loans. Qualified Federal Direct borrowers can receive Federal Direct loans regardless of need.

• Shortly after receipt of your FAFSA form, you will receive an email instructing you to view your award letter which itemizes your financial aid eligibility. If you still feel that it is necessary to borrow a private loan once your financial aid package is awarded to you, research any financial lending institution of your choice to cover your remaining educational expenses.

Also, when deciding upon how much to borrow, practice smart borrowing techniques and only borrow those funds that you need. A refund from your private loan may be nice up front, but could be very costly down the road!

Lastly, if possible, have a cosigner (parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, etc.) apply for the loan with you. Often lenders require the use of cosigners, and it can be very cost effective for the primary borrower to use a cosigner as interest rates will most likely be drastically reduced.

In accordance with the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), financial lending institutions are required to provide students with three loan disclosures. Each disclosure informs the borrower of specific information regarding the loan.

1. Application Disclosure: the Application Disclosure is generally presented to the borrower along with the loan application. If the disclosure is not provided with the initial loan application, the lender will be required to mail an Application Disclosure to the borrower within three days after an application is received.

   The Application Disclosure contains pertinent information about:

   • the range of rates
   • fees
   • other terms that apply
   • total cost of the loan
   • federal student loan options

   Please be aware the Application Disclosure must be accepted and signed by the borrower and cosigner in order to proceed through the application process.

2. Approval Disclosure: the Approval Disclosure is provided to the borrower electronically or by mail when the lender has conditionally approved or approved the borrower for a loan.

   The borrower and cosigner will receive the Approval Disclosure as part of the application process before the promissory note is signed. The Approval Disclosure must be accepted by both the borrower and cosigner within 30 calendar days of the credit offer. The Approval Disclosure must state the acceptance date deadline and the manner in which the lender requires the borrower to accept the terms of the loan. If any permissible changes (i.e. changes made to accommodate a borrower request) are made to the loan, a new disclosure and 30 day acceptance period is required to accept new terms.

   Remember that the Approval Disclosure must be accepted and signed by the borrower and cosigner (if applicable) prior to continuation of the application process.

3. Final Disclosure: the Final Disclosure is presented to the borrower after the loan terms have been accepted. A three day recession period occurs after the Final Disclosure is presented to the borrower.

   The Final Disclosure will note the borrowers’ right to cancel the loan, state the deadline for cancellation, and the methods in which a lender accepts a cancellation request.

   Lastly, the Final Disclosure provides the borrower with the final information on the cost of their loan.