CMU's Title IV School Code is 002243.
Activating Federal Loans
ATTENTION: Returning Central Michigan University students who have previously borrowed a Federal Direct Loan while attending CMU do NOT need to complete another Master Promissory Note or loan counseling.
NEW BORROWERS: To receive your Federal Direct Student Loan, you must first complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN), the legal document you must sign agreeing to pay back your loan, and complete loan counseling.
Please start the process to receive your Federal Direct Student Loan as soon as possible, by following the steps described in the pages below. You should allow 15 business days for processing.
Select from one of the loan types below to access the steps needed to activate the loan.
Federal Direct Student Loan Subsidized and Unsubsidized
Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS LOAN)
Federal Direct Graduate/Professional (GRAD PLUS LOAN)
Financial Aid and the CMU Payment Plan
Follow this link for more information on the CMU Payment plan: Payment Plan Info
Important Info for Student Loan Borrowers
Two new federal loan programs could drastically reduce your monthly student loan payments, and provide loan forgiveness. If you go to
http://www.IBRinfo.org, you can get more information about those programs and sign up for email updates. That way when repayment begins, you’ll already know your options and won’t have to go digging for this article.
One of the new federal programs is Income-Based Repayment. It will cap monthly payments at a reasonable percentage of income for borrowers with heavy debt burdens or low incomes, and forgive any remaining debt after 25 years. This means that if you’re underpaid, underemployed, or unable to work due to illness, your student loan payments won’t break the bank, and could be as low as $0 a month. The program covers almost all federal loans made to undergraduate and graduate students.
The other program is Public Service Loan Forgiveness. If you are considering a career in public service, such as working for the government, as a public school teacher, or for a nonprofit organization, you might qualify for this program. It forgives remaining federal student loan debt after 10 years of qualifying payments and employment. This means that you can afford to take a job helping others, even if it doesn’t pay well and you have a lot of debt. If you plan to go to graduate school or have debt from graduate school, Public Service Loan Forgiveness could save you thousands of dollars.
More information about both programs, including Frequently Asked Questions and a calculator that estimates your monthly payments, is available at http://www.IBRinfo.org
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON REQUESTING PLUS LOAN DEFERRAL:
After the PLUS Loan has been disbursed to the student's account, the parent borrower must call the Direct Loan Service Center at (800) 848-0979 to request a deferral of loan payments. The parent borrower will be requested to provide the student's Social Security number. The borrower must choose between paying interest monthly, quarterly, or allowing the interest to be capitalized quarterly. If the student has no booked loan with Direct Loans, the parent will be asked to submit a letter on school letterhead indicating the student's expected graduation date, the student's Social Security Number and the parent borrower's Social Security Number. CMU will fax this information to the Direct Loan Service Center on behalf of the parent. EDUCATION RELATED DEFERMENT REQUEST
Be Wary of Private Loan Offers
The growing problems with private loans has led the House Education and Labor Committee to question the $85-billion-a-year student loan industry by asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the unfair and deceptive practices that lenders use to market their products and services to students. Following is a quote from the announcement of their request.
"Every day, millions of students receive marketing letters from private lenders - letters that are often intentionally designed to confuse or mislead students. These tactics are nothing short of predatory lending. No company should be able to get away with using aggressive scare tactics to profit off students who are already taking on enormous amounts of college loan debt. Just like any other group of consumers, students and their families deserve to be protected from any fraudulent or manipulative marketing practices."
College students are cautioned to be suspicious of unsolicited loan offers. Student loan debt can accumulate quickly and result in a lifetime burden of high payments and credit denials for automobile purchases, credit cards, and home mortgages. Private loans also can reduce eligibility for more desirable federal, state and college aid programs. To avoid these problems, read and understand the terms and conditions of all loans.
Michigan students are bombarded by media advertisements and mailings about private student loans. The Michigan Student Financial Aid Association (MSFAA) reminds students and families to beware of loan offers you did not initiate. Deceptive marketing tactics are not illegal in the world of private student loans. It is always in a student’s best interest to explore federal loan options before applying for private loans. Here are some simple rules to follow when considering a private loan.
1. All students should file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine eligibility for grants, work-study, federal loans, and other desirable forms of student aid.
2. Students should only consider a private education loan if they have reached their federal loan borrowing limit.
3. Undergraduate students and parents should compare private loan costs with costs for the Federal PLUS Loan.
4. Graduate students can borrow under the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan and should compare PLUS costs to private education loan costs before applying for a loan.
5. The financial aid offices at Michigan colleges and universities are staffed with knowledgeable people with years of experience who will be happy to answer your student aid questions.
COLLEGE GOAL SUNDAY
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Michigan College Goal Sunday Join us on February 14th 2010 at a chance to get money for college! There are 28 locations in Michigan to go, so we will see you there!
CMU's Location for College Goal SundayCentral Michigan University |
