Student loan process changes
By Megan Newell
Last Updated:4:12 PM EST 4/22/09 Section: News
The availability of student loans through St. John Fisher College will remain stable, despite the changes in the economy. Student federal loans will no longer be processed through lenders in the Federal Family Educational Loan Program (FFELP), but will come directly from the Department of Education.
"We are going to become a Direct Loan school. For us and our customers it is a simplified process," said Angela Monnat, director of Financial Aid at Fisher. "We evaluated both programs, whether to stay or change, and we think it's in the best interest of the students, parents and the college to switch."
"During the past year, many lenders stopped participating in the federal student loan program," Monnat said.
When this happens students are forced to choose new lenders, which can get complicated.
"Students will be able to borrow the same amount of student loan as they did under the FFELP program. The Direct Loan Program is a simplified delivery system which will shorten loan processing time," Monnat said. "This will provide a lot more stability in the availability of student loans."
Financial aid packages are sent out after Spring 2009 grades are submitted. The economy should not be affecting the amount of financial aid students receive.
"As long as students file their FAFSA on time, we're going to renew their aid. If they have an academic scholarship and need to maintain a certain GPA that hasn't changed, so really the financial aid will be renewed just like it has in the past," Monnat said.
"One thing I do want to stress is that we know that these are really tough economic times for a lot of our families. We're very sensitive to that," Monnat said. "So if there has been a significant change in a student's financial circumstances, loss of a job or something like that, I strongly encourage them to contact the financial aid office and discuss this with us. We will explore their options with them."
The process is very much the same as it was last year to file for financial aid. Students must file a FAFSA and accept their loan on Fish'R'Net. The biggest change is that students will need to complete a new master Promissory Note and loan entrance counseling, Monnat said. These are both completed online. Most students have not done this since freshman year, as it does not need to be renewed.
"We are going to become a Direct Loan school. For us and our customers it is a simplified process," said Angela Monnat, director of Financial Aid at Fisher. "We evaluated both programs, whether to stay or change, and we think it's in the best interest of the students, parents and the college to switch."
"During the past year, many lenders stopped participating in the federal student loan program," Monnat said.
When this happens students are forced to choose new lenders, which can get complicated.
"Students will be able to borrow the same amount of student loan as they did under the FFELP program. The Direct Loan Program is a simplified delivery system which will shorten loan processing time," Monnat said. "This will provide a lot more stability in the availability of student loans."
Financial aid packages are sent out after Spring 2009 grades are submitted. The economy should not be affecting the amount of financial aid students receive.
"As long as students file their FAFSA on time, we're going to renew their aid. If they have an academic scholarship and need to maintain a certain GPA that hasn't changed, so really the financial aid will be renewed just like it has in the past," Monnat said.
"One thing I do want to stress is that we know that these are really tough economic times for a lot of our families. We're very sensitive to that," Monnat said. "So if there has been a significant change in a student's financial circumstances, loss of a job or something like that, I strongly encourage them to contact the financial aid office and discuss this with us. We will explore their options with them."
The process is very much the same as it was last year to file for financial aid. Students must file a FAFSA and accept their loan on Fish'R'Net. The biggest change is that students will need to complete a new master Promissory Note and loan entrance counseling, Monnat said. These are both completed online. Most students have not done this since freshman year, as it does not need to be renewed.
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collegeloanconsultant
posted 4/22/09 @ 10:15 PM EST
The only significant difference is with parent college loans. A Parent PLUS loan in the Direct Loan program has a lower interest rate.
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