<p>i have a few specific questions about the loan process at GWU... will check with the school, but wanted to see what ya'll's experiences have been like.</p>
<ol>
<li> when/how does my D apply for Stafford S/US and Perkins loans?<br></li>
<li>she completed the online entrance counseling and quiz for the Stafford earlier today.</li>
<li><p>i saw nothing online about the requirement for the Perkins - the Master Promissory Note. anyone else know where/how to do this?</p></li>
<li><p>when do i apply to Citibank (or whomever i'm going to use - haven't quite decided) for the loan we need to cover the rest of the bill?</p></li>
<li><p>i've been waiting for GWU to say "start" or something.</p></li>
<li><p>the "alternative lender" list hasn't been updated for this year yet. </p></li>
<li><p>have ya'll already secured your alternative loans? funds need to be disbursed on august 30... not sure how long that process will take. </p></li>
<li><p>"student accounts HOLD" and "advanced registration": </p></li>
<li><p>if you go here: GW</a> Financial Aid for New Undergraduates there is a section which reads:<br>
"IMPORTANT CHANGES TO THE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR ALTERNATIVE LOANS AND THE PROCESS FOR HOLD LIFTS: Those students who intend to apply for an alternative loan to have a Student Accounts HOLD lifted for advance registration must now start the application process at least two weeks prior to the date on which they are scheduled to register for the FALL 2010 semester. Several steps will have to be completed before the lender will provide the Office of Student Financial Assistance with a certification form. Until we have received the certification form, there will be no action that the aid office can take about requesting that the hold be lifted. "</p></li>
<li><p>the wording is a little awkward. i can't tell if my D will need to have student accounts hold lifted for "advanced registration". anyone else know the answer to that one? </p></li>
<li><p>are there other steps i'm not mentioning? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>thanks for whatever assistance you can provide!</p>
<p>1sttimemom - Can’t provide specifics to above, but I agree - very confusing. As stated in my prior posts, I’m doing a direct PLUS and the forms/“mailing” for that loan has not yet been posted or recieived. The 2010-2011 forms page of FA also doesn’t have it listed yet.</p>
<p>If you are going to CI with your student - I’d recommend getting all your answers form colonial central/FA office while there. I think there’s a formal presentation to parents from Colonial Central too. That’s what we’re going to do. I think there’s still plenty of time. Mr Crangle from Fa said the usual time to apply for Parent PLUS loans is July.</p>
<p>CI’s soon.</p>
<p>CJ</p>
<p>CJ - </p>
<p>thanks for your post and your information. :)</p>
<p>i’m not attending CI. D is going alone - she flies out tomorrow at 1:00! GW is putting her up for the night in Thurston so she can be there right when it starts on Tuesday. very exciting. </p>
<p>i’m writing down a list of questions for her to get answered by financial aid. i figure it’s a good time for her to start taking over those kinds of details.</p>
<p>just nervous that now i have a bill in hand and no way of paying it as of yet. </p>
<p>do you happen to know if she has to apply for the Staffords and Perkins? there must be some kindo f application process beyond the FASFA, yes?</p>
<p>i’m sitting here at the desk in our office and it’s smothered in lsits of classes she wants to register for… very cute. i think she wants to take everything they offer in every department except math! 
</p>
<p>thanks again!</p>
<p>1sttimemom - here’s my understanding!</p>
<p>Perkins - These loans are awarded directly to students via GW. I don’t think there is a separate application. The FAFSA/CSS Profile was the app.</p>
<p>Staffords - Student needs to do a MPN him/herself @ <a href=“http://www.studentloans.gov%5B/url%5D”>www.studentloans.gov</a> . The student uses their Federal PIN they used for the FAFSA. They also need to do the Entrance loan counseling.</p>
<p>We go the 3rd CI. Let me know if you still don’t get answers -I’d be glad to ask in-person @ FA office.</p>
<p>Hope your D has a positive experience. We’re going with my “S” since we have familt in the area and maikng it kind of a vacation.</p>
<p>CJ</p>
<p>i guess the loan process is one of those things that, until you do it once, it’s pretty mysterious.
thanks for your insights.</p>
<p>will post after CI and let you know if there were any hangups or shortcuts! :)</p>
<p>OK - so now i’ve decided to do a PLUS loan instead of an alternative loan.</p>
<p>a few questions:</p>
<ol>
<li> D completed the Stafford MPN and entrance counseling on the Federal Student Aid website, but it still isn’t showing up as that requiremetn having been met on her GWeb page.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>~ anyone else’s showing up yet?</p>
<ol>
<li> when will we be told what the next step is for the Perkins Loan? i recall an email saying that we’d be told what to do but i haven’t seen anything about that yet.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>~ should i have D go ahead and do the entrance interview on the Financial Counselor site? ([Bad</a> Admin Login](<a href=“http://www.fc.campusoncall.com/cgi-bin/home.pl?campus=georgewashington]Bad”>http://www.fc.campusoncall.com/cgi-bin/home.pl?campus=georgewashington)) </p>
<ol>
<li> PLUS Loan questions:</li>
</ol>
<p>~ the website says: The Office of Student Financial Assistance will send the necessary application materials to the parents of all admitted undergraduate students in June, shortly after the Admissions deposit deadline. ([GW</a> Financial Aid for New Undergraduates](<a href=“http://gwired.gwu.edu/finaid-n/Loans/]GW”>http://gwired.gwu.edu/finaid-n/Loans/))
we have not received any of that information. anyone else?</p>
<p>~ the website says: The Direct PLUS repayment begins 60 days after the last disbursement (for the current academic year) and there is no grace period. ([GW</a> Financial Aid for New Undergraduates](<a href=“http://gwired.gwu.edu/finaid-n/Loans/]GW”>http://gwired.gwu.edu/finaid-n/Loans/)) but the federal DL website says that the PLUS loan is can be deferred until 6 mo. after graduation.</p>
<p>~ the wesbite says: The 2010-2011 Federal PLUS Loan Data Form will be available shortly. You will indicate on the form the amount you wish to borrow for 2010-2011 and return the completed form to our office.
i have yet to see this or to be told where to look. anyone else?</p>
<ol>
<li> in order for a student to receive an “unsubsidized” Stafford Loan, in addition to the usual subsidized one, does the parent have to be ineligible for a Parent Plus Loan? OR is it that, if the parent is ineligible for a PLUS, the student can get ADDITIONAL unsub stafford monies?</li>
</ol>
<p>ok - i’m answering some of my own questions here - and i feel like a bit of an idiot doing it, but i thought perhaps others might need this informtaion too. so here goes.</p>
<p>i just got off the phone with GW’s financial aid office. these are the answers i was given to my questions:</p>
<p>Stafford Sub:
- complete MPN and entrance counseling
- no other requirements or forms or applications
- make sure they’re showing up as completed on the student’s GWeb site</p>
<p>Stafford Un-Sub:
- complete MPN and entrance counseling
- no other requirements or forms or applications
- make sure they’re showing up as completed on the student’s GWeb site</p>
<p>Form:
- previously there was a “Loan Data Form” which was used by parents/students to incidate how much of the loan was being accepted into the student’s account. as of a decision made last week, that form is no longer being used (even though it is still on the GW loans website) since, at the time of disbursement of the direct loans, there is an oppotunity to declare how much of the loan you want to accept. (keep in mind - anyone who received the federal supplemental grant - a requirement of that grant is that you must accept all stafford and perkins monies offered to you.)</p>
<p>Perkins:
- wait to hear from GWU via student’s gwu email
- follow directions for completing MPN and entrance counseling for Perkins
- if you don’t hear from them by the beginning of August - call them
- i asked about the fact that there is an active link from the GW loans page to the Perkins entrance interview site called “Financial Counselor”. the person with whom i spoke seemed a bit surprised that that was an active link and recommended not doing anything until i heard from the school</p>
<p>PLUS:
- wait to hear from GWU via student’s gwu email
- follow directions for completing MPN and entrance counseling for Perkins
- if you don’t hear from them by the beginning of August - call them</p>
<p>Bills/Invoices:
- begin being sent out on July 20th - takes awhile to get them all out.
- payment due august 30th - 1-2 week grace period and then fees will be assessed. they’re willing to waive fees if the delay is on the part of the school.<br>
- worried about having late fees assessed, i asked if, hypothetically, the loan money hadn’t come through by sept. 7th - could i pay the bill through their online bill pay - and then when the loans do come through - and once the account stands in overage/credit - the school will write the student a check for the overage. (D sends me the check and I put the money back as fast as i can!)</p>
<p>don’t take anything i’ve said as written in stone - just wanted to pass along the information i got this morning in case it’s useful!</p>
<p>1sttimemom - update on Direct PLUS Loans - the Form for the Direct PLUS Loan is now available on the FA website - go to forms, it’s at the bottom. I faxed it to GW FA as soon as it was up. I have completed the Federal MPN/App also on finaid.gov - so just “waiting” for GW’s FA office to act.</p>
<p>Just received the Fall Invoice from student accounts- of course the Direct PLUS loan isn’t there because they are so late in processing. I have NO plans of “paying upfront” just because their FA office is delayed. FA has said it will be certified and credited by Aug 30th due date.</p>
<p>My “D”'s college on the other hand - had everything completed and correct on her July 15th bill. GW FA said it’s the “transition” to the Federal Loan process which is delaying them.</p>
<p>We’ll see!</p>
<p>CJ</p>
<p>CJ -
Thanks so much for the heads-up.</p>
<p>Is that link to the Loand Data Form new?
The reason I ask is because the similar link on the “Loans” explanation page had been there for awhile and the person I spoke with in the FA office said that they were uncertain if they’d be using it this year - due to the changes in the system this year. In our conversation, she was specific to say not to do anything until hearing from them via email with directions for the PLUS and Perkins. She was surprised when I said that the link to the Perkins site was live already and indicated that it shouldn’t be because it was not updated yet.</p>
<p>I’ll call tomorrow and verify that they want these filled in now. Will let you know what I find out. And will probably go ahead and compelte the forms regardless… I’m getting too nervous about the money not being processed quickly enough.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the heads-up… I hope this is the last of the loan hoops to jump through! :)</p>
<p>1sttimemom - the Direct PLUS Loan form link is new - take a look. It clearly states for 2010/2011 and addresses the deferrment issue you had a question about. I agree with being “proactive” with GW’s FA office. However, you still have to keep tabs on the “process”.</p>
<p>CJ</p>
<p>Thanks cj! I called today and they confirmed that it’s ok to start. Thanks again for the heads up. It’s a bit frustrating that some of the info and links that are online are leftovers and some are not even though they say they are. The lady I talked to a few weeks ago was so surprised that the Perkins loan links and info were live since they were from last year. So I really do appreciate being able to communicate with other parents who have additional pieces of information. Thanks for being one of them!</p>