Graduate Federal Direct Loans 2009 - 2010
The U.S.
Department of Education administers the Federal
Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program and the William
D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program.
Both the FFEL and Direct Loan programs consist of
what are generally known as Stafford Loans (for
students) and PLUS Loans
for parents
and
graduate and professional degree students.
Tufts participated in the FFEL program in the past,
and beginning this year will participate in the
William
D. Ford Federal
Direct Loan program instead. We will no longer
have Stafford lenders; loan funds will come instead
directly from the government. Details on this
Tufts change can be found here:
Direct Loan
program.
Subsidized
Direct Loan
The Direct loan is a federally subsidized loan, which means that there
are no interest charges while you are enrolled at least half time, and for six months after you leave school or drop
below half time. This six month period is called a grace period.
Graduate students may borrow up to $8500
in Subsidized loans per academic year. See the
chart below for full details on loan limits. The interest rate for Graduate borrowers for 2009 - 2010 is 6.8%.
Loan amounts are divided in half and disbursed per
semester. A fee of 0.5% is charged,
subtracted from the amount borrowed.
Unsubsidized Direct Loan
Any student ineligible for a Subsidized
Direct Loan may borrow an Unsubsidized Direct Loan.
Unsubsidized means that all interest charges for
this loan are the responsibility of the borrower.
The rate is 6.8% fixed for the life of the loan.
Fees are 0.5%. Loan limits are shown below.
Borrowers can choose to make interest payments by
checking off the appropriate box on the Master
Promissory Note. You may choose to capitalize
the interest (add interest charges to the amount
owed) but this will significantly increase the total
amount of your debt burden at repayment.
Deferments
Here is a link to details about
Deferments.
Direct Loan (Subsidized/Unsubsidized/PLUS) deferment
forms can be downloaded from
this site.
Federal Direct Loan Limits
The Department of Education sets annual and aggregate
(i.e. lifetime) limits on the amount of debt a
student can obtain from the federal government. The
chart below summarizes the current limits for the
Federal Direct Loan.
| Grade Level |
Annual Amount |
Lifetime Limit |
| Graduate Student |
$20,500—No more than $8,500
of this amount may be in the form of a
Subsidized Loan. |
$138,500—No more than $65,500 of this amount
may be in the form of a Subsidized loan. |
If you are a first time Direct Loan borrower you
must complete a
two step electronic process: 1)
submit a Master Promissory Note, and 2)
complete Entrance Loan Counseling. Please be aware that failure to complete
either step will
result in cancellation of your loan.
1. Complete the Promissory Note Electronically.
A Master Promissory Note (MPN) needs to be
completed only once while at Tufts. Please go
here
to do so. It will take approximately 30 minutes.
a. You will need a valid e-mail address, and must have the PIN given to you when you completed your
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). If you have lost your PIN
go to
www.pin.ed.gov
to have it sent to you electronically.
b. Have on hand the names, addresses and phone numbers of two
people (friend or family) that will
be required as references.
2. Complete Entrance Direct Loan Counseling
for 2009 - 2010
First time loan borrowers must go
here to complete the government required
loan counseling. Graduate Students who borrow
both Stafford Direct and PLUS loans will click on
the Combination link. If you complete the
Stafford counseling only, and then choose to
borrow PLUS, you must then return again to
complete the Combination counseling. For
this reason we encourage all Graduate student
borrowers to complete the Combination counseling
initially to save time and simplify the process.
Loans will not
be disbursed until the two step process has been completed.
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