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Office of Financial Aid

Office of Financial Aid home page
Week of April 19, 2010

Lender Deadlines For Summer Term

In order to meet the June 30th disbursement deadline, ALL required loan documentation for the summer semester, including requests for additional disbursements, must be submitted to the Office of Financial Aid no later than the following:

Citibank: June 7th

Access Group: April 14th

Discover: June 15th

Wachovia: June 15th

Please be aware that you are allowed to use any lender of your choice. We will keep you updated on any lender deadline changes.

Summer Term Financial Aid

The summer term is a part of the 2009-2010 academic year. For this reason, if you have a 2009-2010 FAFSA on file and you are registered at least half-time for the summer term, your award will be available this week 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. Due to the elimination of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) there are several important deadlines that students must follow in order to receive financial aid for the summer term. Please see the "Deadlines: Spring and Summer Semesters" headline below for details.

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 2009-2010 FAFSA information.

If you have remaining Stafford Loan eligibility from the 2009-2010 academic year, this will be offered to you before a Federal Graduate Plus Loan is offered. If you have used your entire $20,500 Stafford Loan eligibility during this past fall 2009 and spring 2010 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 plus summer tuition charges.

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

Deadlines: Spring and Summer Semesters

Spring

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 April 30th.

If you need financial aid for the spring term, and you have not completed your 2009-2010 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 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.

Once you accept your loans for 2008-2009 our office will process your aid using the promissory note on file from last year.

Summer

On March 30, 2010, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 was signed into law.  This law includes a provision that eliminates the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) beginning July 1, 2010.  FFELP is the federal student loan program that IIT currently uses to disburse loans for the 2009-2010 academic year.  For this reason, we are prohibited from disbursing FFELP loans after June 30, 2010.  Therefore, in order to meet the June 30th disbursement deadline, ALL required loan documentation for the summer semester, including requests for additional disbursements, must be submitted to the Office of Financial Aid no later than June 15, 2010.  Please complete your 2009-2010 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) immediately if you have not done so already and if you would like to receive loans for the summer semester.

All summer deadlines are subject to the lenders selected last day of loan processing. Citibank's last day of processing is June 15th. For this reason, we recommend that ALL required documentation for Citibank loans be submitted by June 7th. We will update lender deadlines as we receive additional information from lenders.

Update: Federal Loan Exit Counseling Online

For students that missed the group exit counseling sessions last week please complete the Federal Loan Exit Counseling Online on the National Student Loan Database System (NSLDS). Click here for the exit counseling on NSLDS: http://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/. The presentation from the exit counseling session is located here. After you complete this requirement you can stop by our office to pick up your loan summary from NSLDS.

For more general information about choosing repayment plans please watch the "Picking your Plan" video. This is a presentaion that was hosted by the Office of Financial Aid and recorded last year. It has general Repayment information that graduating students may find useful.

Direct Loans: Financial Aid Program Change

Illinois Institute of Technology currently participates in the Federal Family Education Loan program (FFEL), which allows students to borrow funds for school from private lenders (usually banks or credit unions). The Illinois Institute of Technology Downtown Campus  will be withdrawing from the FFEL lending program and begin participating exclusively in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (DL) for the 2010-2011 aid year beginning in the fall semester of 2010. This change will NOT affect any existing current year (2009-2010) loans.
 
Illinois Institute of Technology has decided to make this change because of the difficulties it has experienced in the FFEL program. For the last two years, many students have had to change their lender several times. Lenders have gone out of business or changed their processing systems, and others have suspended processing loans for our students. These changes have consistently occurred with very little notice or no notice at all, causing significant delays for students who receive funds from these lenders. As a result, it has been a struggle to maintain the timely delivery and availability of student loans.
 
In the Direct Loan Program (DL), students borrow directly from the U.S. Department of Education through their school. DL Subsidized, Unsubsidized and Graduate PLUS loans operate in essentially the same manner as in the FFEL program. Students receive the same interest rates (except Graduate PLUS, which has a lower interest rate than FFEL) and have similar repayment options. Payments are sent directly to the U.S. Department of Education’s servicer.Switching to Direct Loans will provide the following benefits:

  • Eliminates the uncertainty of lenders exiting the FFEL program.
  • Eliminates the need for reprocessing loans for students when lenders leave the program.   
  • Provides one lender and one payment (at the time of repayment) for new borrowers
  • Allows returning borrowers to consolidate FFEL loans with their Direct Loans at repayment
  • Provides a lower interest rate on the Grad PLUS loan.
  • Offers four repayment options for students.
  • Offers interest rate reductions for on-time payments. 
  • Allows students to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

Because of this change, all students who borrowed loans in 2009-2010 and plan on borrowing federal loans in 2010-2011 will need to complete a new Federal Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Federal Direct Loan Entrance Counseling. Instructions for completing a new MPN and loan counseling will be on the Financial Aid Web <http://www.kentlaw.edu/depts/finaid>  site in late-March 2010.  We will announce via email and the Record Page when the new instructions are available.
 
We believe that using the Direct Loan Program is the best way to ensure that IIT Downtown Campus students receive their loan funds in a timely and efficient manner. For more information regarding the change to Federal Direct Loans, please read our Federal Direct Loans Q&A <http://www.kentlaw.edu/depts/finaid/Final%20DTC%20FAQs%20for%20Direct%20Lending.pdf> available online on the Financial Aid website <http://www.kentlaw.edu/depts/finaid> under Direct Loan Information.

New Requirements for the Private Loan

In compliance with Title Z, three disclosure statements will be sent to all students applying for private education loans. These forms will be sent out before the loan can be disbursed. Also, a self-certification form will need to be completed by the student or financial aid office.

New forms and procedures:

  1. Application Disclosure- You will receive this form as part of the online application process, before you fill out the application. If you apply by phone you will receive this disclosure within  3 days. This contains general information about ranges of rate, terms and fees.

  1. Approval Disclosure- You will receive this form after final approval of the loan by the lender and before the school certification request is sent to the school. It contains specific information about the approved loan, including the approved loan amount, rate and estimated repayment schedule. This disclosure statement must be accepted by you either by calling the lender or logging onto the lenders website. If you do not accept this Approval Disclosure within 30 calendar days of receipt the loan approval or the loan will be cancelled and you will have to reapply.

  1. Final Disclosure- You will receive this form after your Approval Disclosure is received by the lender. It contains previously disclosed on rate, fees, default, and repayment terms. It also gives you the 3 calendar days to cancel the loan prior to the first disbursement date.

    1. Rescission Period- This is your final opportunity to cancel the loan without penalty and gives you time to evaluate your needs for the private loan. You have 3 days after you receive your Final Disclosure. Your loan will not be disbursed until this period is over. The first date the loan can be disbursed is the 7th day from the date the lender mails the Final Disclosure.

  2. Self-Certification Form- Your lender will provide you with a blank Private Education Loan Applicant Self-Certification form. This contains details about federal loan availablility and encourages you to seek out federal loans before applying for federal loans. This form must be completed and signed by the applicant and returned to the lender before the loan can be disbursed. You have 180 days to complete this form back and send it back to the lender, or the loan will be cancelled. If you need help in completing the form please contact our office.

2010-2011 FAFSA Application Available

The 2010-2011 FAFSA application is available for completion. The priority deadline is April 15th. You can use this FAFSA on the web Worksheet to help with your FAFASA application. http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/attachments/FOTWWorkshEn1011.pdf

Also distribution of 2010-2011 Renewal FAFSA Reminders Begins January 15, 2010. Students who are renewal-eligible for 2010-2011 and who qualify for reminders by January 11, 2010 will be sent Renewal Reminder notifications. Eligible students who provided e-mail addresses on their 2009-2010 records will receive 2010-2011 Renewal Reminder e-mails. Renewal-eligible students whose records do not have valid e-mail addresses, or whose Renewal Reminder e-mails are returned as undeliverable, will be mailed 2010-2011 Renewal Reminder letters, provided there is a deliverable mailing address.

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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