Financial Aid - After applying for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program

Receiving your loan

Payments are usually disbursed in two or three instalments of equal amounts—September and January (and May, if applicable). Funds will be disbursed only once you’re enrolled. You’ll receive your loan funds via electronic fund transfers to your Saint Paul University student account (in Canadian dollars) on the scheduled disbursement dates (at the beginning of each term). If you are a late applicant, you’ll receive your funds on a rolling basis at various times throughout the academic year.

Understanding the cost of attendance

The amount of money you can borrow is determined by the annual limits for US government loans and the cost of attending the institution. The annual limits can be found on the US Department of Education website. The limits vary based on year of study, calculated cost of attendance, whether considered a dependent or independent and loan type. The cost of attendance is calculated based on actual tuition cost, incidental fees and compulsory insurance costs, a fixed book cost based on the program of study, a fixed personal and living cost based on accommodations on or off campus, actual local travel and the cost of one return trip to a student’s home per term.

Calculations of the cost of attendance are final and cannot be appealed. The cost of attendance will be adjusted annually.

Interest charges

When interest begins accumulating on your loan amount depends on your loan type. In all cases, direct subsidized and direct unsubsidized loans have a fixed interest rate, which is determined in October of each year. In addition to interest, you pay a loan fee of up to 3% of the principal amount of each direct subsidized or direct unsubsidized loan you receive. This fee is deducted from the loan amount before you receive the funds. This means the actual loan amount you receive will be less than the amount you will have to repay.

Loan responsibilities

Maintain a satisfactory academic standing

You must maintain a satisfactory academic standing and immediately inform the Financial Aid and Awards Service of any changes, including a reduction in your course load or withdrawal from your program. You are allowed to drop, exchange and change courses as long as you meet the minimum course load requirements (undergraduate students must be enrolled for a minimum of nine units per term; graduate students must maintain full-time status). If you don’t meet these requirements, your student loans become payable six months from the date your courses were modified.

Complete exit counselling

Students nearing the end of their studies must complete the exit counselling element, accessible through the US Department of Education’s website.

Repayment

Direct subsidized and direct unsubsidized loans have a six-month grace period, which starts the day after you graduate, leave school or drop below half-time enrolment. You don’t have to begin making repayments until your grace period ends. Generally, you have from 10 to 25 years to repay your loan, depending on the repayment plan you choose. Your monthly payment amount is based on how much you borrowed and how long you will take to repay. Under some conditions, you may receive a deferral or a forbearance, which allows you to temporarily stop making payments.

Find out more about repaying your federal student loans.