|
Notice to Stafford Loan Borrowers
Recent changes
in federal regulations affect how your federal loans may be disbursed
for the Spring 2003 and future semesters. A number of students will
be affected, including students borrowing for one semester only,
students who request different loan amounts during different semesters
of the year, students borrowing for the summer term, and first year,
first time federal loan borrowers.
Up until October of 2002, schools with low default rates,
such as UAS, were exempted from following two of the regulations
governing the federal loan programs: the regulation that a school
must use two disbursements dates per loan period and the regulation
that loan proceeds for first year, first time federal loan borrowers
must be delayed for 30 days into the first payment period. Congress,
in 2002, did not extend this exemption; therefore we are back to
following the federal regulations as mandated by the Higher Education
Act.
What does this mean for you? If you, like most borrowers, are attending
the full academic year and your loan period covers both fall and
spring semesters, the regulation requiring two disbursements during
the loan period will not present any difficulties. Half of your
loan will be disbursed at the beginning of each semester. However,
if your loan period is just one semester, then half of your loan
will be disbursed at the beginning of the semester and the remaining
half will be disbursed at the mid-point of that same semester.
For example, due to the costs associated with the MAT
programs, most MAT students’ loans were certified with two
loan periods, one being Fall/Spring and the second being just Summer.
A consequence of this regulation is that the summer loan will now
come in two disbursements.
Similarly, if you requested a larger loan amount for
the fall than for the spring, you may be facing two disbursements
for the spring portion. If you are a mid-year transfer student or
a continuing student borrowing only for the spring semester, you
will also have two disbursements. For spring-only loans, the first
disbursement will be no earlier than the first day of class, and
the second will be no earlier than the mid-point, 3/10/03 (this
happens to fall during Spring Break).
The second regulation, requiring that the first installment
of a loan for a first year, first time federal loan borrower be
delayed for 30 days after the first day of the student’s program
of study, means that freshmen enrolling for the first time this
spring semester will have the first disbursement or their loan released
no earlier than February 13, 2003.
Alternative sources of funding, including grants or
scholarships, part-time employment, or alternative loans, may help
if you face a cash flow dilemma. Please contact us for more information
on any of these options. To determine if you are affected by the
recent changes in federal regulations, you can review the loan data
your lender sent you, review your award at www.uaonline.alaska.edu,
or contact UAS Financial Aid in 205 Novatney; email finaid@uas.alaska.edu,
907-465-6255. - The Financial Aid Staff.
Back to issue contents /
Homepage
|
|
