Loan Counseling
by Hella ~ May 11th, 2004I completed the loan counseling session today as recommended in the Matriculation Timeline. It is relatively straightforward, though you are required to provide correct answers to questions at each step. I suppose this ensures people actually read the pages, or at least the important parts.
The topics covered include:
- Types of Loans; subsidized vs. unsubsidized
- Master Promissory Note (MPN)
- Federal Stafford Loan limits
- Repaying the loan; deferment and forbearance
- Loan maintenance
- Payment estimates
It really doesn’t take very long, maybe 15 minutes. After completing the questions, a form is presented to collect personal information and forward it on to the school chosen at the beginning. This serves as proof that the required counseling session has been completed.
May 11th, 2004 at 6:02 pm
can you elaborate more on the whole loan thing? I am interested to know how loans work when attending graduate school, what the limits are, how are living expenses factored in etc. Since you are going through the process right now I figured you’d have a pretty good idea about how it works. :)
May 11th, 2004 at 6:14 pm
Schools provide a student budget that is adjusted yearly. This includes all educational and living expenses. When you apply for loans, you will be eligible to take out up to this amount, but some lenders will allow you to take out more than 100% of the budget.
The Financial Aid process for me consisted of filing a FAFSA and completing an institutional aid form specifically requested by Wharton. The Wharton Financial Aid office then evaluated the documents and provided me with an award letter. This detailed which loans will be available for use and whether or not they will be subsidized or unsubsidized. I signed a Master Promissory Note (MPN) which legally binds the borrower to repay the loans. I haven’t made it past that, but I think the next steps are to apply for the non-federal loans (Citi in the case of Wharton). This cannot be done until after June 1.