Award Letter: A notice from a financial aid office to a student that specifies the financial aid programs and dollar amounts that the student has been granted.
Consolidation: This process takes your existing student loans and combines them into one lower monthly payment. Performing student loan consolidation can reduce your payments by up to 60%. It saves money and provides additional options for loan repayment.
Cost of Attendance (COA): The total cost that the financial aid office estimates a student will incur during attendance at that college or university.
Default: Failure to repay a loan according to the terms agreed to when you signed a master promissory note. Default may also result from failure to submit requests for loan deferment or cancellation on time. The consequences of default are severe.
Deferment: A temporary period during which a borrower is not required to make payments. Deferments are more common in federal student loan programs rather than alternative loans. For subsidized Stafford Loan borrowers (and Perkins Loan borrowers), many deferments are subsidized, meaning the interest that accrues on the loan during the deferment is paid by the federal government. Some deferments are unsubsidized, meaning the interest that accrues must be paid by the borrower.
Department of Education: The federal agency that establishes financial aid programs and processes for financial aid applications.
Entrance Counseling: An educational session that first time federal student loan borrowers must fulfill before the loan’s proceeds can be disbursed. The entrance counseling sessions provide these first time borrowers basic information about student loans and the terms and conditions the loan programs.
Exit Counseling: An educational session that federal loan borrowers must fulfill around the time of graduation. The exit counseling session provides the borrower detailed information about the loans he/she borrowed, the company that will collect the payment and the repayment alternatives that are available.
Expected Family Contribution (EFC): The amount that a student and family can be expected to contribute towards educational expenses over the academic year. The EFC is calculated when the student submits a FAFSA.
Federal Work Study: Federally funded program that allows colleges and universities to create campus based employment programs for financial aid recipients.
Forgiveness: Under certain circumstances, the federal government will cancel all or a part of student loans.
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA): The official application form for all federal financial aid programs. The FAFSA form is available online at FAFSAOnline.com.
Graduate PLUS Loan: A federally guaranteed loan program allowing graduate students to borrow up the cost of education minus aid. Payments are deferred until after graduation at which point repayment is at a fixed interest rate.
Grants: A type of financial aid award that does not have to be repaid. Grants are often made based on an applicant’s financial need or EFC.
Tags: college, colleges, colleges and universities, department of education, education, educational, fafsa, federal student, federal student loan, financial, financial aid, financial aid application, financial aid office, graduate plus loan, grant, grants, guaranteed loan, loan consolidation, loans, of education, online, program, programs, student, student aid, student loan, student loan consolidation, student loan programs, student loans, students, study, universities, university