Completing a FASFA Application
Discover your eligibility for financial aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). To complete a financial aid application, go to https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa.

When you complete the FAFSA form on the myStudentAid app or online at fafsa.gov, you will see instructions for each question. You can get additional help by selecting the question mark icon next to each FAFSA question.

This will display a "tooltip" that provides information about how to answer that question.

What Are the Federal Rates for the 2023-2024 School Year?

Here are the increased rates for federal student loans for the 2023-2024 academic year:

• Direct Subsidized Loans (undergraduates): 4.99%
• Direct Unsubsidized Loans (undergraduates): 4.99%
• Direct Unsubsidized Loans (graduate and professional students): 6.54%
• Direct PLUS Loans: 7.54%

Yes, those rates are much higher than in previous academic years. 

Here's a side-by-side comparison of last year's and previous years' rates:

Considering these are fixed interest rate loans, your current and previous loans aren’t affected. The rate hikes are only for loans taken out for a specific academic year. 

WERE YOU SELECTED FOR VERIFICATION?

Eligibility for aid and award amounts is determined by the results of the FAFSA. The Pell Grant is usually awarded to undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor's or a professional degree. The amount considers your financial need, cost of attendance, full or part-time student status, and intent to enroll for the full academic year or less.

Qualifying students receive the full, eligible amount. FSEOG, Perkins and FWS awards are also based on financial need.  The specific dollar amount of the award can vary each year and is determined by the available funding. Once these funds are exhausted, additional awards cannot be made. 

The Federal Direct Loan Program is the largest federal student loan program. Under this program, the U.S. Department of Education is your lender. Award amounts for Direct Loans are based on a combination of factors, including the student's grade level, financial need, and dependency status (with an additional check against the National Student Loan Database System [NSLDS]). You have the right to decline any loan offer made to you.

You have the right to decline any financial aid assistance offered to you.

Professional judgment

The Higher Education Act of 1992 allows financial aid administrators to make professional judgment decisions for special or unusual family or student circumstances. These circumstances must be documented and must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. Financial aid administrators may treat a student with special circumstances differently than the strict application of the methodology would otherwise permit. Adjustments can either increase or decrease a student's EFC or cost of attendance. The reason for the adjustment must relate to that student's special circumstances and must be documented in the student's file.

Dependency override

A financial aid counselor can use professional judgment in granting a dependency override. If a student does not meet the federal guidelines to be considered independent for financial aid purposes, the aid administrator can decide to override the federal regulation and make the student independent for financial aid purposes. The special circumstances must be documented and a copy of the documentation must be maintained in the student's file. Instances, where a student's parents are unwilling to provide their information or a student, is self-supporting are not justification for granting a dependency override. Because professional judgment decisions are unique, specific required documentation cannot be listed. It is left to the discretion of the financial aid administrator to request appropriate documentation. The documentation should substantiate the student's situation and be from a professional outside the family, not a family member. In cases of a dependency override, documentation from more than one organization should be collected. The decision for using professional judgment will be made by the Office of Student Financial Aid.

Federal and Private Student Loan Summary

Differences between federal and private student loans
Federal student loans are made by the government, with terms and conditions that are set by law, and include many benefits (such as fixed interest rates and income-driven repayment plans) not typically offered with private loans.
In contrast, private loans are made by private organizations such as banks, credit unions, and state-based or state-affiliated organizations, and have terms and conditions that are set by the lender. Private student loans are generally more expensive than federal student loans.
^*Private loans differ by lender and by type of loan. Be sure you understand the terms of your loan, and keep in touch with your lender about any questions you may have.
FEDERAL VS. PRIVATE STUDENT LOANS

EXIT COUNSELING
If you leave school or graduate, The U.S. Department of Education requires you to complete Exit Loan Counseling.

Important!

You never have to pay for help with your student loans. Free assistance with managing your loans is provided by your federal loan servicer.

There is a growing number of so-called commercial student loan debt relief companies that claim to offer assistance in managing your federal student loans for a fee. Despite what these companies claim, there’s nothing a student loan debt relief company can do for you that you can’t do yourself for free with the assistance of your federal loan servicer. If you ever need assistance, the Department of Education and our federal loan servicers will help you at no cost!

For more information on avoiding loan scams, go to https://StudentAid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/avoiding-loan-scams. If you’re having problems managing your student loans contact your federal loan servicer or the Federal Student Aid (FSA) Ombudsman Group.

REPAYMENT
Repayment begins six months after you graduate or drop below half-time enrollment (six credit hours). If you receive a loan and Withdraw, Graduate, or Drop below six hours you must contact Student Financial Services so we can counsel you regarding your loan status. Please keep in mind that if you withdraw you may owe part of your loan funds back immediately.
Under certain circumstances, you can receive a deferment or forbearance. This will allow you to temporarily postpone making loan repayments. You can find out more about deferments and forbearances through the U.S. Department of Education’s website.
Students are able to track the amount they owe, their student loan servicers, and interest rates by logging in the National Student Loan Database System (NSLDS).
You will login with the same Username and Password that was used to complete the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) application

Repayment Plans

• Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (REPAYE Plan)
• Generally 10 percent of your discretionary income.
• Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (PAYE Plan)
• Generally 10 percent of your discretionary income, but never more than the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan amount
• Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR Plan)
• Generally 10 percent of your discretionary income if you're a new borrower on or after July 1, 2014*, but never more than the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan amount
• Generally 15 percent of your discretionary income if you're not a new borrower on or after July 1, 2014, but never more than the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan amount.

Income-Contingent Repayment Plan (ICR Plan)
The lesser of the following:
20 percent of your discretionary income or
what you would pay on a repayment plan with a fixed payment over the course of 12 years, adjusted according to your income

Under all four plans, any remaining loan balance is forgiven if your federal student loans aren't fully repaid at the end of the repayment period. For any income-driven repayment plan, periods of economic hardship deferment periods of repayment under certain other repayment plans, and periods when your required payment is zero will count toward your total repayment period. Whether you will have a balance left to be forgiven at the end of your repayment period depends on a number of factors, such as how quickly your income rises and how large your income is relative to your debt. Because of these factors, you may fully repay your loan before the end of your repayment period. Your loan servicer will track your qualifying monthly payments and years of repayment and will notify you when you are getting close to the point when you would qualify for forgiveness of any remaining loan balance.
If you’re making payments under an income-driven repayment plan and also working toward loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program, you may qualify for forgiveness of any remaining loan balance after you've made 10 years of qualifying payments, instead of 20 or 25 years. Qualifying payments for the PSLF Program include payments made under any of the income-driven repayment plans.
  
Please remember, if you begin to have trouble making your payments, you must contact your loan servicer immediately. You can retrieve the loan servicer contact information and all of your loan record details on the National Student Loan Data System for Students. 

DEFAULTING ON STUDENT LOANS
Default is failure to repay a loan according to the terms agreed to in the promissory note. For most federal student loans, you will default if you have not made a payment in more than 270 days. If you default on a federal student loan, you lose eligibility to receive additional federal student aid and you may experience serious legal consequences.
If you default on your federal student loan, the entire balance of the loan (principal and interest) becomes immediately due. This is called acceleration. Once your loan is accelerated, you no longer have access to deferment or forbearance options or to a choice of repayment plans. 
In addition, if you do not make repayment arrangements with the holder of your loan—the U.S. Department of Education (ED), a guaranty agency, or the school that made the loan—and comply with the terms of the repayment arrangement, your loan holder may place your loan with a collection agency. If your loan is placed with a collection agency, you will be responsible for costs incurred by your loan holder to get payment. The holder of your loan can take other actions to collect as well.