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Office of Financial Aid

Office of Financial Aid home page
Week of May 18, 2009

Newly Updated Lender List

The Financial Aid staff has done extensive research to ensure that our students are receiving the best loan products available. This has resulted in a few changes to our Federal Loan lender list which can be found on the financial aid website.  You may access our school’s lender list on our website at http://www.kentlaw.edu/depts/finaid/  and click “Apply for Federal Stafford Loan” and/or “Apply for Federal Graduate Plus Loan“ to see the most current information we have received-to-date from various lenders.

In order to make certain that both new and continuing students have the opportunity to choose the lender that best fits their needs, we urge you to contact your lender directly and also review the new preferred lender list and decide if you would like to keep or change your lender for the upcoming academic year.  If you decide to switch lenders, please complete the following steps (by June 15th as noted below): 

  1. Complete an online Master Promissory Note with the lender of your choice (see link above)
  2. Email our office and indicate that you would like to change lenders and specify the name of the new lender (Chicago-Kent and MPA students: finaid@kentlaw.edu; Stuart School students: finaid@stuart.iit.edu).

Our office will begin to process loans for the fall term in late June. For this reason, we are urging that all requests for lender changes be submitted per steps 1 and 2 above by June 15th so your changes are in prior to our processing of loans.  If you do not do request any changes by June 15th we will assume that you do not want to switch lenders and will begin processing your loans with the Master Promissory Note that we have on file.  It is important that you make your lender selection by the suggested deadline, since changes after June 15th  may delay the disbursement of your fall loans.

Please contact us directly via email (at the email address shown in “item 2” above) or call us at 312-906-5180 if you have any questions.

Spring Financial Aid Deadline

The spring federal financial aid deadline was May 13th. The only loan options for the spring term are private loans. If you would like a private loan please contact our office.

Summer Financial Aid Deadline

If you would like to receive financial aid for 2009 summer term you must complete your 2008-2009 FAFSA by June 30, 2009.

Summer Financial Aid Awards Available

If you are registered at least half-time for the summer term, your award is available to be viewed via the myIIT portal. Please view your award and accept the amount that you want to borrow for the summer term as soon as possible. We cannot process your loans until they are in an accepted status. If you have accepted your loans, you do not need to take any further action.

At Least Half -Time
If you are enrolled at least half-time you are eligible to receive federal loans. Once you accept your award we will automatically process federal loans for you if you are enrolled at least half-time during the summer semester, as long as we have received your 2008-2009 FAFSA information. The deadline for completing the 2008-2009 FAFSA is June 30, 2009.

If you have remaining Stafford Loan eligibility from the 2008-2009 academic year, this will be offered to you before a Federal Graduate Plus Loan is offered. If you used your entire $20,500 Stafford Loan eligibility during this past fall 2008 and spring 2009 semesters, you will only be offered a Federal Graduate Plus Loan. Students will be offered a cost of attendance budget that equates to approximately 3 months of living expenses.

Once you register for summer classes you will be offered a summer financial aid award package and notified via email that it is available to view on the myIIT portal.  Once you accept the amount of loan funds that you would like to borrow we will process the loan with your current federal loan lender.

Less Than Half-Time
If you are enrolled less than half time you are ineligible for federal loans. Your only loan option is a private educational loan. In order to receive a private loan for the Summer 2009 semester you must apply for the loan directly with the lender of your choice. Private loans are not automatically renewed. To apply for a private loan online with the lender of your choice at please visit the following website for further information: http://www.kentlaw.edu/depts/finaid/privateloaninformation.html

Did you miss the Repayment Plan Workshop?

If you were unable to attend the "Pick a Plan" workshop hosted by our office a few weeks ago, you can view the video of the session by clicking here. You must have Real Player installed on your computer.

Click here to download the PowerPoint presentation to follow along with the session. If you have any questions please contact our office at 312-906-5180.

Graduate Plus Loan Repayment Answers

Question from Student:

I received a letter from my lender saying that the first payment on my Graduate PLUS loan is due in June. Is this true?

Answer:

Some graduating students may be receiving notifications from their lenders indicating that the first payment on their Graduate PLUS Loan is due within the next few months. One of the terms of the Graduate PLUS loan is that repayment begins 60 days after the last disbursement of the loan. There is technically grace period for this loan.

At your request most lenders will align your first Graduate Plus payment with your Stafford Loans, which have a 6 month grace period. If you take advantage of this option then the payments on your Graduate Plus and Stafford Loans will not begin until December or January. All of the lenders on the Downtown Campus lender list offer this 6 month forbearance/alignment option. In order to be sure that your Graduate Plus Loans are not due until December please contact your lender directly to verify or request this option as soon as possible.

If you did not choose one of the lenders on our lender list, please contact you lender as soon as possible to find out if they offer a forbearance/alignment option.

Question from Student:

If I do not attend class during the summer term will I have to make payments during the summer?

Answer:

To bridge the gap bewteen the spring semester and the following spring term the lenders on the Office of Financial Aid’s lender list are automatically granting our students in-school deferment status over the summer term. In order to be sure that your loan is placed into in-school deferment status during the summer it is advised that you contact your lender If you are graduating at the end of the psring term you will not be eligible for this summer term in-school deferment status. You will be be placed into repayment upon graduation. Please contact your lender directly to discuss other options to defer payments after graduation.

Please keep in mind that these terms are specifically for the lenders on our lenders list. If you did not choose one of the lenders on our lender list, please contact you lender as soon as possible to find out if they offer an in-school deferment option for the summer term.

2009-2010 FAFSA Application Available

The 2009-2010 FAFSA application is available for completion. In order to ensure that your aid is processed on time for the fall 2009 term please complete your FAFSA application by April 15th.

May 1st Spring Financial Aid Deadline

If you need financial aid for the spring term, and you have not completed your 2008-2009 FAFSA, please complete it as soon as possible. The financial aid process can take 4-6 weeks from start to finish. The process can take even longer if there are complications or if Department of Education selects your file for some form of verification.

Once you receive your financial aid award and you want to receive financial aid for the 2008-2009 academic year you must use your myIIT account to accept your loans. Please be aware that if you do not accept your loans our office will not process your loans which can delay the receipt of your refund check as well.

If you received a Federal Stafford or Graduate Plus loan last year and you do not want to change lenders you do not need to complete a new master promissory note. Once you accept your loans for 2008-2009 our office will process your aid using the promissory note on file from last year.

In order to receive aid for the spring term your FAFSA application and corresponding documentation must be submitted to the Office of Financial Aid by May 1st.

Using the myIIT Portal to view your Award

For information and instructions about logging into the myIIT portal to view your 2008-2009 financial aid award please click here.

REFUND CHECKS

Refund checks are generated by the Bursar's Office and are available to be picked up at their office (Room 290) approximately 5-7 business days after a credit has resulted in a student's account.

The Bursar's Office will send the student an email when a refund check is available.

Free Credit Report

Did you know that you are now able to receive a free credit report once every 12 months? We encourage students to review their credit reports annually to check for inaccuracies and identify any suspicious activity.

To receive your free credit report, please visit the following link: http://www.annualcreditreport.com. This central site allows you to request a free credit file disclosure, commonly called a credit report, once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Please be aware that other sites may advertise free credit reports, but this is the only site that is sponsored by the federal government and the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. Other sites may charge fees.

Office Hours - Suite #230

Monday-Thursday ~ 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Friday ~ 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

Phone: (312) 906-5180 - Fax: (312) 906-5274


 

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