Is there a deadline for this? I can’t seem to get a clear answer from the college. When do most students/parents fill out the paperwork? Is it at the Orientation or have most already sent in their paperwork?
If you completed the FAFSA, the loans should appear on your FA page to accept or decline. If you check the ‘accept’ box, usually a master promissory note will be generated and once you complete that, the loan can process. It will not be credited to your account until about 10 days before the bill is due. For my daughter’s school, there were ‘yellow caution flags’ to show she needed to complete something (check the box for acceptance, complete MPN) and those changed to green flags when everything was complete.
There isn’t a deadline, but if you don’t do it before the bill is due, you might get charged a late fee or interest for not paying your bill on time. If you are doing a June orientation, you’ll have plenty of time.
Unless a lot has changed…and that is possible…your Direct Loan might not actually get disbursed until well,after classes start.
But that doesn’t matter. If your student has completed the MPN, the school will know that money is coming!
But if you haven’t accepted the loan, and haven’t completed the MPN, the school will just bill you.
The sooner the better.
The loans process for my kids:
- The school lists the loans on the Financial Aid Award Letter. The student will either accept or decline the loans, or specify different (lesser) amount for the loans,
- The student completes the entrance counseling and the MPN well before the Fall term.
- The loans distribute to the school about a week before the terms (Fall and Spring).
Thank you everyone!