Applying for an educational loan is a process and a cycle that is repeated each academic year. That yearly cycle starts when you fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application and allows the Financial Aid Office to determine your eligibility, not only for grants and Work Study but also for federal student and parent loans.
- Federal Direct Stafford Loans (subsidized and unsubsidized)
- Federal Direct Parent Plus Loan
- Federal Perkins Loans
- Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loans
- U.S. Department of Education - Loan Forgiveness Information
Federal Direct Stafford Loans
Description
Federal direct student loans are low interest loans that must be repaid, with interest, just like car loans and mortgages. Loans are legal obligations, so before you take out a student loan, we encourage you to think about the amount you’ll have to repay over the years. These loans cannot be canceled or discharged if you didn’t get a job in your field of study or if you are having financial difficulty.
The Department of Education's Direct Loans web site at http://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/student.html gives detailed information on the Federal Direct Student Loan Programs such as:
- How to apply
- Loan Terms
- Borrowing Limits
- Rights and Responsibility
- Payment Terms and Forgiveness Programs, etc...
Additional Requirements
Once your award package is available on your myRedDragon account, the following requirements will need to be completed;
- Accept the Terms and Conditions of your award package.
- Accept your award package.
- Complete an entrance interview; a tutorial designed to ensure that all new Stafford borrowers understand their rights and responsibilities,
- Electronically sign a Master Promissory note (MPN), new boorowers only.
Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loans
Description
The Federal Direct PLUS Loan (Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students) is made to parents. SUNY Cortland does not automatically include a Parent PLUS loan as part of a student’s initial financial aid award package, however, applying is easy. Under this federal program, parents may borrow up to the full cost of attendance, minus any other financial aid the student receives.
The Department of Education's Direct Loans web site at http://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/parent.html gives detailed information on the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Program such as:
- How to apply
- Preapproval Requirements
- Loan Terms
- Borrowing Limits
- Rights and Responsibility
- Payment Terms and Forgiveness Programs, etc...
Credit Denial
If the pre-approval request was credit denied, the student may be eligible to receive additional funding through the Unsubsidized Stafford loan program. To be considered for an unsubsidized Stafford loan, the student must submit a written request explaining that his or her parents have been denied a PLUS loan. The student must agree to incur the additional unsubsidized debt.
Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loans
Graduate students with good credit history, are eligible to borrow through the Federal Direct PLUS Loan program to help pay their educational expenses.
Graduate students must be enrolled in at least six credit hours in order to receive benefit of this loan.
The Department of Education's Direct Loans web site at http://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/student.html gives detailed information on the Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Program such as:
- How to apply
- Preapproval Requirements
- Loan Terms
- Borrowing Limits
- Rights and Responsibility
- Payment Terms and Forgiveness Programs, etc...
Federal Perkins Loans
The Perkins Loan is a federally sponsored student loan program administered by SUNY Cortland in conjunction with the SUNY system offices in Albany. The loan is borrowed from the college. The Perkins Loan interest rate is fixed at 5 percent, and no interest is charged until the student goes into repayment, nine months after leaving school. There is no up-front or origination fee on a Perkins Loan. The Perkins Loan allows a nine-month grace period. The nine-month grace period begins when attendance drops below half-time.
The annual loan funds are generated by the monthly payments made during the year by previous SUNY Cortland Perkins borrowers. Thus, the College has a limited amount of money to lend each year.
The limited funds available are awarded to students based on greatest financial need and timeliness of the FAFSA application. Therefore, eligibility is not guaranteed year-to-year like Federal Direct Student Loans. Due to limited funding eligible students may not receive an award.
How to Apply
In order to be considered for a Perkins Loan, students must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
Additional Requirements
Once you have your award package, the following requirements will need to be completed on your myRedDragon account:
- accept your award package
- accept the Perkins Loan Rights and Responsibilities and Truth-In-Lending Statement
- complete the entrance session and e-sign process
Eligibility Criteria
To be considered for an award, you must:
- be admitted to SUNY Cortland as a degree-seeking undergraduate student,
- be enrolled full time for at least 12 credit hours each semester,
- be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen,
- demonstrate financial need,
- meet Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards as defined by the SUNY Cortland Office of Financial Aid
- not be enrolled in a program leading to a second baccalaureate degree.
Repayment of Perkins Loans
All Perkins Loan borrowers are required to be “Exited” upon completion of their undergraduate degree program, transfer to another school, or any reduction in enrollment to less than six undergraduate credit hours at SUNY Cortland. This process is necessary for us to transfer the proper repayment information to the Student Loan Service Center (SLSC) in Albany, N.Y., which collects all Perkins payments for SUNY. The Student Loan Service Center (SLSC) will intiate the Exit process.
Unlike Federal Direct Student Loans, Perkins loans can be discharged (canceled) in full or in part when you are employed at certain kinds of work. Some of these include:
- full-time teacher, when your school serves a low-income area, you teach special-education students, or you teach math, science or other subjects with a shortage of teachers
- full-time nurse or medical technician
- full-time law enforcement or corrections officer
- full-time Peace Corps volunteer
The Student Loan Servicing Center is responsible for all billing and collections of Perkins loan payments. The SLSC also handles all requests for deferment or forbearance and processes loan forgiveness applications. The SLSC can be contacted at (518) 525-2626 or slsc@uamail.albany.edu.
