<p>I am hoping someone can help me. I was an undergraduate student years ago and the college I was attending gave me too much money in subsidized loans...33000 to be exact. At the time, I wasn't really aware of subsidized versus unsubsidized and I was just accepting the loans they offered. Anyways, I had to finish my undergrad using private loans. I have now been paying on my consolidated subsidized loans for the past 7 years. Of course, they haven't really diminished much in that time. Therefore, I am still over the undergrad subsidized limits. I am just starting grad school and I now have a hold on my financial aid because of being over the lifetime limit for undergrad. I'm very worried that they will not offer me loans for graduate school due to the overage at undergrad. Does anyone know how the overage for undergrad affects graduate eligibility? And do PLUS loans follow the same guidelines? Any thoughts?</p>
<p>If you were awarded too much in sub as an undergrad, you do have to resolve that issue before you can receive aid as a graduate. If you have consolidated your loans, that is considered to have resolved the overpayment. From the FSA Handbook: “If a student has consolidated the loan(s) that exceeded the annual or aggregate loan limit, he or she is considered to have made satisfactory arrangements to repay the debt, and no additional action on the part of the student is required. This is true regardless of the type of loan (FFEL or Direct) consolidated and no matter the type of consolidated
loan the student obtained.” Make sure all of your loans are included in the consolidation, and if they are, contact the school to point this out. Not all aid officers are as knowledgeable as they should be, so you may have to ask to speak with a manager.</p>
<p>Thank you! All of my loans have been consolidated and I have been paying on them for a long time. I will definitely be sure to point that out if they come back saying I’m ineligible. Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>I am guessing that this is what happened: Your ISIR (the report the school receives with your FAFSA info) had a flag indicating that you exceeded your agg sub limit. The computer system read the flag when your ISIR was imported, and a notification popped up to let you know. A hold was probably automatically placed on your financial aid account as a result. The aid office most likely has a clean-up process in which every so often, someone is given a spreadsheet of students whose accounts need to be reviewed. An aid officer will eventually look at your loan information in NSLDS and will see that your sub loans have all been consolidated. He/she will make a note in your file to indicate that your overaward was resolved through consolidation, and the hold will be removed. It’s always good to check in with the aid office to make sure it is being handled.</p>