<p>My son has only got one more semester of school and then he'll graduate. He has never taken out any student loans, but he'd like to take out $7500 in Federal loans for this last semester. I know the limit is $7500 per YEAR; can he take the whole amount in one semester?</p>
<p>Unfortunately no.</p>
<p>If he hasn’t taken on any other debt, you can always find a lender and co-sign for him, and then he can pay this one loan back. With such a small amount, he should be able to handle it, and you are at minimal risk. He should go ahead and take the 1/2 year Stafford since the rate is lower, and then you will only be borrowing very little from elsewhere. Or, a Parent Plus loan may work for you, and you can have him pay you every month to actually be the one paying it back.</p>
<p>His stafford loan amount will be 7500 will be for the school year ; 3750 per semester. Is he working now over the summer? He can use some of these earnings, the stafford loan, and since it is a small amount of money, you can apply for a PLUS loan or you can co-sign for him a loan so that he can finish school. If you are turned down for a PLUS loan, he will be able to borrow an additional 4000 (2000 per semester) as an unsubsidized stafford loan.</p>
<p>An unusual rule to share with the CC community: Actually, the rules for the final semester of an undergrad program when it occurs in the first half of the academic year are different than the normal rules. You CAN get more than half the loan in the fall … but you can also get LESS then half the loan … it depends on the number of credits being taken. You multiply the annual loan amount by the (number of credits enrolled divided by the number of credits for full-time financial aid status). </p>
<p>Examples, assuming 12 credits is full-time for financial aid (this can vary by school):
7500<em>(17/12) = $10,625
7500</em>(12/12) = $ 7,500
7500*(9/12) = $ 5,625</p>
<p>The school will use a one semester budget, and the total of all aid in the semester cannot exceed this budget … meaning that even if the student has more credits & could get more loan, the loan would be reduced if the total of all aid were to exceed COA for the single term.</p>
<p>Schools are supposed to automatically prorate loans for any student that they can reasonably be expected to know will graduate at the end of the semester. We ran reports to identify these students, then prorated loans (making some students unhappy, if they were taking a less than full time load).</p>