Chicago-Kent College of Law:  Home Page Chicago-Kent College of Law:  Home Page    



 

Office of Financial Aid

Summer 2008 IIT University Loans


Highlights
  • IIT-wide computing changes affect summer 2008 federal financial aid.
  • Affects only students enrolled for 6 credit hours or more in summer 2008 who seek federal loans.
  • "IIT University Loans" replace federal loans for summer 2008 only.
  • Designated staff member for summer 2008 financial aid inquiries.
  • IIT University Loan terms and conditions

January 2008 -- Illinois Institute of Technology is in the process of migrating all student records from the university’s current Student Information System, known as SIS, to a new database management system called Banner. Although there will be many improvements in the delivery of information and other services available to students after the migration, there is one transitional drawback in converting to Banner that requires the law school to change the beginning of its financial aid award year to start with the fall term instead of the summer term.

Explanation of award year changes and impact on loans

Many students may not realize that the current financial aid award year for 2007-08 started with the summer 2007 term and will end with the spring 2008 term. Under the new Banner system, we must now change the financial aid award year to begin with the fall term, rather than the summer term as usual, so law students taking a full-time load of 6 credit hours or more in the summer 2008 term will not be eligible to receive federal financial aid. This is basically because FAFSA information can only be used to provide financial aid to students over a 12-month award year. Since the current 12-month award year in SIS ends with the spring 2008 term and the new Banner 12-month award year begins with the fall 2008 term, the summer 2008 term is not associated with either financial aid award year. Accordingly, the Department of Education (DOE) will not permit us to award federal government loans for this summer. Note that this unusual situation will only affect summer 2008 federal aid; henceforth, summer terms will be covered in the regular financial aid award year.

Summer 2008 "IIT University Loans" available in place of federal loans

We understand that this change could create a significant inconvenience for law students who plan to attend summer classes full time and otherwise would have qualified for federal student aid in accordance with DOE regulations. Therefore, to assist students with the financing of their summer 2008 educational expenses, the university will provide eligible law students with an IIT institutional loan (“IIT University Loan”), which will have terms comparable to the federal loans. (IIT University Loan terms and conditions)

Complete your FAFSA by April 1

Details about the specific terms of the university loan will be available very soon. However, it is particularly important for students who plan to attend school full time in the summer of 2008—i.e., enrolling for 6 credit hours or more—to complete their FAFSA for next year by the April 1 deadline. This will enable our financial aid office to obtain corresponding Student Aid Reports in a timely fashion and to determine what each student’s federal loan eligibility otherwise would have been for next summer, since this will also be the criterion for determining whether students qualify for the University Loan program.

Staff specialist to handle summer 2008 inquiries

The financial aid staff is committed to ensuring that lending arrangements go smoothly for students affected by this change. More information will appear soon in the Record. To handle questions you may have in the meantime, we’ve designated a point person for this issue, financial aid supervisor Linda Gant, and set up a special e-mail address for you to use (summer08aid@kentlaw.edu).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION


 

 

  Webmail Login              Updated March 25, 2008    Office of Public Affairs     Contact Us