Federal Direct Loans

What are Federal Direct Loans?

River Parishes Community College participates in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. Students borrow directly from the federal government. No separate application from a bank or other lender is needed to receive Direct Stafford Loans.

How much can I Borrow?

• Your total financial aid, including Federal Direct Loans, can never exceed the college’s cost of attendance. The limits indicated are the federal maximums which you can receive during two terms of enrollment.
• The maximum loan amount for one semester cannot exceed half of the academic year loan limit.
• In addition to annual loan limits, there are aggregate loan limits. Students may never borrow more than the aggregate loan limit for all subsidized and unsubsidized loans at the college and other schools. 

Academic Year Loan Limits
	Base Loan Sub/Unsub	Additional Unsub	Extended Loan Unsub only*	Total Loan
Freshman	$3,500	$2,000	$4,000	$9,500
Sophomore	$4,500	$2,000	$4,000	$10,500
Junior	$5,500	$2,000	$5,000	$12,500
Senior	$5,500	$2,000	$5,000	$12,500
Graduate	Unsub only		$20,500	$20,500
*available to independent students

How much are monthy payments? Do I need to Borrow the maximum amount? 

If you do not need to borrow the maximum amount, you can choose to borrow less. In deciding the appropriate amount, you should follow these steps:

• What are your costs for an academic year?
• Add costs together for tuition/fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and personal expenses.
• Subtract your resources from these costs.
• Consider all aid and private scholarships you have received as well as money from savings and your family.
• Decide if you need to borrow.
• Before you borrow funds, are there other resources available to you?
• Review your expenses to see if you can reduce costs.
• Consult the repayment chart above.
• What will be the monthly payment if you borrow this amount?
• Consider what you may borrow in the future.

Select the amount that you can manage to repay. What you borrow today must be repaid, with interest, in the future.

Total Borrowed	Monthy Payment
$5,000	$61.00
10,000	123.00
30,000	368.00
50,000	613.00
100,000	1,227.00

Applying for Federal Direct Loans

When you complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or the Renewal Free Application for Federal Student Aid, you are applying for all of the aid programs for which you may be eligible, including direct loans.

If a William D. Ford Federal Direct Stafford Loan (subsidized or not subsidized) has been offered to you as part of your aid package it will post on the Award Offer section of LoLA. You can accept, decline, or change your award up to the amount offered.

General Requirements

Once you are awarded a Federal Direct Student Loan, you must fulfill certain conditions before loan funds can be credited to your account.

These include:

• Completion of a Loan Entrance Interview
  An Entrance Interview is actually a counseling session which is designed to help you better understand your obligation as a borrower and provides other useful information on the loan process. Entrance Interviews are required for all of first time, first-year borrowers. Loan borrowers must complete an Entrance Interview.
• Signing the Master Promissory Note
  All Direct Stafford Loan borrowers must complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN) using their FSA ID. The same FSA ID is used to complete your online FAFSA is used to sign your MPN. To obtain a FSA ID, click here.

Information Disclosure

Once a student completes the process for a Federal Direct Loan and funds are disbursed, the student’s information regarding the loan is reported to the National Student Loan Database System (NSLDS) by the federal processor. The information on NSLDS is accessible by any institutional or governmental entity that has legal access to NSLDS. The information is updated as needed with regards to enrollment status, graduation dates, and additional loans taken.

National Student Loan Database System (NSLDS)- Students may also get access online and setup an account.
National Student Clearinghouse

Right to Cancel

Federal regulations allow student loan borrowers up to 14 days after disbursement of funds to cancel or reduce the loans. The following describes the process to request a cancellation or reduction of student loans.

To request changes to your loan(s), please complete a Loan Change Request Form and return it to the Office of Financial Aid.

If the cancellation results in a balance due on your student account, payment will be required immediately.

If you repay your loans directly to the Direct Loan Service provider, your loan account will be credited as a repayment on the loan rather than a reduction/cancel. This means that your loan fees will not be reduced, nor will it renew you academic year eligibility. If you had already borrowed your academic year limit, your will not be able to re-borrow this amount later.

Exit Counseling

When a student loan borrower ceases to be enrolled at least 6 hours (1/2 time) at RPCC, whether due to graduation or withdrawal, the student is required to complete Exit Counseling.

The school receives notification from the federal processor when this is done.

**STUDENTS MUST BE ENROLLED FOR AT LEAST 6 CREDIT HOURS TO RECEIVE LOANS**