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The Federal Graduate PLUS Loan, Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan, Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan, and Federal Parent PLUS Loan are part of a group of education loans under the Federal Family Education Loan Program. This Fact Sheet provides you with instructions on completing the . . .

(available at the end of this Fact Sheet)

as well as information to help you understand the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan process. You should carefully review all the information contained herein.

Federal Graduate PLUS Loans are long-term education loans made by a lending institution (bank, savings and loan, credit union, etc.) to eligible graduate students enrolled at least half-time in a Masters or Doctorate program. To be eligible to participate in the Federal Family Education Loan Program and receive a Federal Graduate PLUS Loan you must be:

Loan eligibility will be determined by the Office of Student Financial Aid. You will be notified by e-mail when your application has been processed and directed to review your status on the CSU X-press web site (go to www.csu.edu and click on CSU X-press - or – access CSU X-press through the Financial Aid home page).

Please Note: Loan status may be reviewed at anytime by accessing
the CSU X-press web site. It is not necessary to wait for e-mail notification.

THE APPLICATION PROCESS . . .

In order to qualify for a Federal Graduate PLUS Loan you must first complete the 2008-2009 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). You must also complete the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan Request Form (available at the end of this Fact Sheet).

Submit the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan Request Form to the Office of Student Financial Aid. We will determine your eligibility and electronically submit the information to your lender.

THE LAST DAY WE WILL ACCEPT A FEDERAL GRADUATE PLUS LOAN REQUEST FORM FOR FULL-YEAR OR FALL-ONLY LOANS (INCLUDING REVISIONS) IS OCTOBER 15, 2008.

All first time borrowers at CSU are required to complete a Debt Management Loan Counseling Session (a/k/a Entrance Interview) BEFORE HIS/HER LOAN(S) WILL BE PROCESSED.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR CONTINUING/REPEAT BORROWERS

The Office of Student Financial Aid has undertaken the move toward a more paperless environment. This undertaking will necessitate that any continuing/repeat borrower again complete an on-line Debt Management Loan Counseling Session (a/k/a Entrance Interview), even if he/she has completed such a session as recently as June 30, 2007. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE TO THIS REQUIREMENT.

the 2007-2008 school year you do not have to do it again.)

If you request that we process a Federal Graduate PLUS Loan for you, you will need to choose a lender to provide funding for your loan. For information concerning choosing a lender, the Preferred Lenders at CSU, and how we will choose a lender for you in the event that you do not specify a preference, please visit our Choosing a Lender web page.

Once the loan has been guaranteed your lender, if it is one of the lenders on CSU’s Preferred Lender list, will send you a Federal PLUS Application and Master Promissory Note (PMPN), which you must complete and return to that lender, if you have not previously done so. PLEASE, DO NOT RETURN THE PMPN TO THE OFFICE OF STUDENT FINANCIAL AID. If you choose a lender other than one of the Preferred Lenders you are responsible for securing a PMPN from that lender. You may, with many lenders, be able to complete the PMPN on-line. Please consult your chosen lender's web site or give them a call for instructions.

Federal Graduate PLUS Loan Request Forms, which cannot be processed when they are submitted due to outstanding obligations/requirements on the part of a student, such as, but not limited to:

will be kept on file for 60 days. If, at the end of that 60-day period the loan cannot be processed due to any outstanding obligation/requirement, the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan Request Form shall be considered VOID. NO FURTHER NOTICE WILL BE GIVEN. If you still desire a loan after that time period, and after all obligations/requirements have been satisfied, you must submit a new Federal Graduate PLUS Loan Request Form, provided the deadline for submission, October 15, 2008, has not passed.

Federal Graduate PLUS Loan Request Forms, which cannot be processed when they are submitted, because they are not completely, or improperly, filled out will be kept on file for 60 days. If, at the end of that 60-day period the deficiencies in the form have not been corrected, or a new complete form has not been submitted, the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan Request Form shall be considered VOID. NO FURTHER NOTICE WILL BE GIVEN. If you still desire a loan after that time period, you must submit a new Federal Graduate PLUS Loan Request Form, provided the deadline for submission, October 15, 2008, has not passed.

Please allow 3-4 weeks for processing of any Federal Graduate PLUS Loan Request Form that you submit (4-6 weeks if submitted in August or September). In the event that you have outstanding obligations/requirements, such as those listed above, which prevent our initial attempt to process your loan, please allow 3-4 weeks for processing once all obligations/requirements have been satisfied (4-6 weeks if outstanding obligations/requirements are satisfied on or after August 1, 2008).

The Office of Student Financial Aid will determine your eligibility for a Federal Graduate PLUS Loan. Repayment of the loan will be deferred while you are enrolled on at least a half-time basis. Your obligation to start making payments will commence once your enrollment status drops to less than half-time. Under some conditions repayment can be deferred. You should contact your lender for specific deferment information. You may access your lender’s web site, if it is one of the CSU Preferred Lenders, through either the Manage Your Loans or the Choosing a Lender web pages.

Additional and important information concerning the loan application process at this university is available on the Apply for Loans web page.

PRE-SCREENING FOR CREDIT APPROVAL . . .

A lender’s decision to approve a student for a Federal Graduate PLUS Loan is based on the credit criteria established by that institution. If you desire a quick response as to your eligibility for obtaining a Federal Graduate PLUS Loan, you might be able to request a “pre-screening” from your lender.

You may complete the "pre-screening" process with the lender of your choosing. In most instances this process can be conducted on-line. Please consult your chosen lender's web site or give them a call for instructions. Please submit a copy of the lenders approval or denial to our office as we may need this information to complete the processing of other financial aid funds for you. Many lenders will notify us directly if you request that they do so.

If you would like to use one of the lenders on our Preferred Lender list you may access their web sites directly from the Choosing a Lender web page. If you use one of these lenders they will notify us of their decision. These is no need to submit a copy of the PLUS credit decision to our office.

Don’t forget, even if you are pre-approved, you must still submit a “Federal Graduate PLUS

Loan Request Form” to the Office of Student Financial Aid and complete a PMPN.

LOAN COSTS, INTEREST RATES AND LIMITS . . .

There are fees that are normally deducted from Federal Graduate PLUS Loan prior to each disbursement. An origination fee of 3% is retained by the lender to help defray the costs of subsidizing the loan program. There may also be a 1% default fee charged on the principal balance. For more information please visit our Choosing a Lender web page or contact your lender.

Interest rates on Federal Graduate PLUS loans, disbursed on or after July 1, 2007, are fixed at 8.5%.

Please Note: The maximum amount of a Federal Graduate PLUS Loan for each academic period is limited to your Cost of Education (a/k/a Cost of Attendance a/k/a Student Budget) as determined by CSU for the academic period for which you are applying for the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan, less any other aid/loans received for that academic period. You may review your Cost of Education, as well as the status/amounts of aid/loans you may be receiving, on the CSU X-press web site.

TERMS AND RESPONSIBILITIES . . .

You should carefully read the “Borrower Request, Certifications, and Authorizations” and “Promise to Pay” sections that are part of the PMPN. Additionally, you should take the time to become familiar with other important information discussed on the PMPN regarding loan terms, loan cancellation, interest, origination fee and guarantee fee, late charges and collection costs, repayment, acceleration and default, and governing law and notices.

The following paragraph is deleted, and replaced with the modified version that follows, as of 07/11/2008:

~~LOAN DISBURSEMENT . . .~~

Federal Graduate PLUS Loans will be disbursed in two installments. The first disbursement, from lenders, of both Full-Year and Fall-Only loans is scheduled to take place approximately one week prior to the beginning of the Fall semester. The second disbursement, from lenders, of Full-Year loans will take approximately one week prior to the beginning of the Spring semester. The second disbursement, from lenders, of Fall-Only loans will take place on October 20, 2008, the midpoint of the Fall semester. You will receive a disclosure statement from your lender once your loan(s) is processed confirming these dates. If you have a credit balance on your student account, after all your financial aid and loans are received and your tuition and any other charges you may have have been paid, you will be issued a check for the credit balance remaining on your account. Credit balance checks are issued by the Office of the Bursar, not the Office of Student Financial Aid. The Office of the Bursar will notify the CSU community as to when credit balance checks will be issued.

LOAN DISBURSEMENT . . .

Full-year Federal Graduate PLUS Loans will be disbursed in two installments. The first disbursement, from lenders, is scheduled to take place approximately one week prior to the beginning of the Fall semester. The second disbursement, from lenders, will take place approximately one week prior to the beginning of the Spring semester. Fall-only Federal Graduate Loans will be disbursed in one installment approximately one week prior to the beginning of the Fall semester. You will receive a disclosure statement from your lender once your loan is processed confirming the actual dates. If you have a credit balance on your student account, after all your financial aid and loans are received and your tuition and any other charges you may have have been paid, you will be issued a check for the credit balance remaining on your account. Credit balance checks are issued by the Office of the Bursar, not the Office of Student Financial Aid. The Office of the Bursar will notify the CSU community as to when credit balance checks will be issued.

If you fail to maintain satisfactory academic progress, or do not attend the Spring semester, your loan may need to be revised, returned or canceled. If your enrollment should drop below the number of hours you indicated that that you would enroll for on the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan Request Form this occurrence must be REPORTED IMMEDIATELY, IN WRITING, to the Office of Student Financial Aid so that we can make any appropriate adjustments to your loan disbursements. Remember you must be enrolled on at least a half-time basis in order to maintain loan eligibility. Failure to report changes in a timely manner may result in significant delays in processing your credit balance check(s), or might result in you owing a balance to CSU if your credit balance check is issued prior to the adjustment(s) being made due to untimely notification (or no notification) of a change in your enrollment.

Should you wish to increase the requested amount of a loan(s) or apply for another loan (assuming you have remaining loan eligibility), after you have already submitted a Federal Graduate PLUS Loan Request Form, you may do so by submitting a new/corrected copy of the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan Request Form and simply writing the word “Revision” on the top of the form. The deadline to submit requests for increases is October 15, 2008. Should you wish to reduce the amount of a loan(s) that you have already applied for, or cancel a loan(s) that you applied for, please submit a signed letter to our office requesting the cancellation.

REMEMBER, THE LAST DAY WE WILL ACCEPT A FEDERAL

GRADUATE PLUS LOAN REQUEST FORM FOR FULL-YEAR OR

FALL-ONLY LOANS (INCLUDING REVISIONS) IS OCTOBER 15, 2008.

You will need Adobe Reader to download the FEDERAL STAFFORD LOAN REQUEST FORM. If you do not already have Adobe Reader you should download it now by clicking here.