Federal Stafford Loans
Subsidized Stafford Loans
This is a federal loan program through which a
graduate students may borrow up to $8500 per
academic year. No interest is charged (it is
subsidized by the government) and no payments are
due until six months after you graduate, withdraw or
drop to less than half-time status. Repayment is ten
years. The interest rate for 2008 - 2009 is
6.8%.
Unsubsidized Stafford Loans
Students who are not eligible for the maximum
subsidized Federal Stafford Loan, or who need additional
funds, may borrow under this Unsubsidized program. The annual
Unsubsidized loan limit is $20,500 less the amount borrowed under the
Subsidized Stafford Loan Program. The interest rate is
fixed at 6.80% for the life of the loan. Repayment is ten years.
However, interest begins to accrue from the
time of disbursement. Repayment of principal,
as well as interest, begins six months
after you graduate, withdraw or drop to less than half
time status. You may defer payments while you are in
school. However, the interest will be capitalized. This means your interest will turn
into principal and you will begin to pay interest on
your capitalized interest. Therefore, It is helpful in
managing your debt if you are able to either make
the interest payments or pay the accumulated
interest before your six month grace period has ended.
You can choose to be billed for the interest by
checking off the appropriate box when you first sign
your Master Promissory Note to indicate that you
wish to pay the interest. You will then be
billed quarterly for those interest charges.
Choosing a Stafford Loan Lender
Tufts has a formal process to review the loan
offerings of most of the major lenders. Based on the review, we
will provide details here shortly about our
preferred lenders.
Notes:
For students who will borrow a Stafford loan for the
first time at Tufts (both Subsidized and
Unsubsidized), you will receive information about
the timetable for electronically completing your
required Master Promissory Note (MPN) via email.
Electronic processing details are found below.
First time borrowers are also required by the
government to complete loan counseling before
receiving their loan proceeds. You may complete your
entrance counseling via the Internet web site
located here.
Both Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford
Loans are disbursed in two equal installments,
normally at the beginning of each semester. Any
excess credit on a student’s account may be refunded
to the student for other related expenses.
Refunds are not available until loan proceeds are
received and officially credited to the student’s
account, so students should plan accordingly.
The process to electronically
apply and submit your Master Promissory Note (MPN) via
the Tufts page of the ASA Direct site is detailed below.
This electronic process, which usually begins in July,
will take approximately 30 minutes. If
you are a first time borrower at Tufts you will
receive an email from our loan guarantor, ASA, that
will start the electronic process for you. If
you borrow for the first time at Tufts after a
semester has begun, the email will arrive about 48
hours after you get your Financial Aid Notice from
Tufts.
- 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,
make finding it your first step. Go to
www.pin.ed.gov to have it sent to you.
- Have on hand the names, addresses and phone
numbers of two references (friend or family)
that will be required.
- With e-mail access, addresses, and FAFSA PIN
in hand, go to the
Tufts ASA Direct site and log in as a new
user. You will create a personal ID and Password
to the site to ensure privacy. The password will
be sent to you electronically in about two to
four hours, with a link back to the appropriate
site. If you experience difficulty with the site
you may contact ASA at (800) 999-9080 EXT. 5015,
for resolution of any computer problems.
- Log onto the ASA Direct website, as
indicated above, with your new User ID and
Password, and follow the detailed process to
complete and sign your MPN. Do NOT
click on "Apply for a Stafford Loan."
Instead click on the application record that
appears on the main page after log-in.
- If you do not have a driver's license
number, fill in N/A (not applicable).
- You will be asked to select a lender of your choice.
You are under no obligation to borrow from our
list of lenders. Please see section
above "Choosing a Stafford Lender."
If you have problems with this application
process please contact ASA directly at (800)
999-9080 EXT. 5015.
NOTE: If you log onto the ASA site and receive a
message stating that the username and password do
not match a user on the ASA system, please contact
the Tufts Student Services Desk at (617) 627-2000
for resolution of your loan problem.
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