CSU will, assuming you meet all eligibility requirements, process your request for
a Federal Direct Stafford Loan and, if you are a Masters or Doctorate candidate, we
will process your request for a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan. Additionally, we
will, upon request from a parent, process a Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan for a
Dependent student.
| Federal Stafford Loan Limits |
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Federal Stafford Loans have annual limits per grade level and academic program, as
well as maximum lifetime limits. Please access the Federal Stafford Loan Limits (PDF) chart for additional information.
Requests for Revision of Accepted (or Declined) Loans There may be instances after
you have accepted a loan, either in whole or in part, or declined a loan, that you
change your mind. In that instance we will be happy to accommodate any request for
a "revision". It will be necessary for you to download and submit the paper form below
in order to have loans revised, canceled, reinstated, etc. This form is also available
in the Office of Student Financial Aid.
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| Request for Increase, Decrease and/or Cancellation of Federal Loans |
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Please submit the Loan Change Form to our office if you wish to request:
- an increase due to a change in academic (grade) level, or
- an increase if a parent has been denied a Parent PLUS Loan, or
- reinstatement of a loan previously declined or canceled, or
- an increase in a loan previously only partially accepted, or
- decrease the amount of a loan already accepted, or cancel altogether.
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| Information Concerning Parent PLUS Loans and Dependent Students |
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Dependent undergraduate students may, in some instances, receive additional Federal
Direct Stafford funds, over and above what is reflected on their initial Financial
Aid Award Package if their parent(s) applies for and is turned down for a Federal
Direct Parent PLUS Loan. The additional amount for which they would be eligible can
be reviewed on the Federal Stafford Loan Limits (.pdf) chart.
If the parent of a student is turned down for a Federal Direct PLUS Loan the student
may apply for additional Stafford loan funds. The student would accomplish this by
submitting the Loan Change Formform to the Office of Student Financial Aid.
Direct Loan's decision to fund a Parent PLUS Loan is based upon the applicant parent's
credit rating/standing. When your parent applies for a Federal Direct Parent PLUS
Loan, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) will check their credit history. To
be eligible for a PLUS Loan, your parent must not have an adverse credit history.
If they are found to have an adverse credit history, they may still borrow a PLUS
Loan if an endorser is obtained who does not have an adverse credit history. An endorser
is someone who agrees to repay the PLUS Loan if the parent does not repay the loan.
In some cases, they may also be able to obtain a Direct PLUS Loan if they document
to ED's satisfaction that there are extenuating circumstances related to their adverse
credit history.
If there is an "Offered" amount for a Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan in your Financial
Aid Award Package, as reflected in CSU X-press, you may accept the amount in full,
or in part, and your parent may then go ahead and complete the PLUS application process
by accessing the studentaid.gov web site. If the PLUS Loan is subsequently turned down by Direct Loans for credit
reasons, CSU will generally receive confirmation within two business days after which
time we will then process you for the additional Unsubsidized Stafford amount, provided
you have requested the additional amount in writing by submitting a completed Loan Change Form (discussed above). Please allow 5-10 business days for processing of the additional
amount once a Parent PLUS has been denied.
If your parent is approved they have the option to cancel the loan should they change
their mind. Of course, if they are approved, and then subsequently cancel, you will
not be eligible to receive additional Unsubsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loan funds.
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Information Concerning Graduate PLUS Loans for Masters and Doctorate Candidates
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Masters and Doctorate candidates may be eligible for Federal Direct Graduate PLUS
Loans. If you find yourself in a situation where Stafford eligibility does not fulfill
your requirements (perhaps you have exhausted Stafford eligibility) and you have remaining
need in your student budget, you may apply for a Graduate PLUS Loan.
When you apply for a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan, the U.S. Department of Education
(USDE) will check your credit history. To be eligible for a PLUS Loan, you must not
have an adverse credit history. If you are found to have an adverse credit history,
you may still borrow a PLUS Loan if you get an endorser who does not have an adverse
credit history. An endorser is someone who agrees to repay the PLUS Loan if you do
not repay the loan. In some cases, you may also be able to obtain a Direct PLUS Loan
if you document to the USDE's satisfaction that there are extenuating circumstances
related to your adverse credit history.
If there is an "Offered" amount for a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan in your Financial
Aid Award Package, as reflected in CSU X-press, you may accept the amount in full,
or in part, and then may go ahead and complete the PLUS application process by accessing
the studentaid.gov web site. No funds will disburse on your behalf if the credit for the loan is not
approved by ED>
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| Private (Alternative) Education Loans |
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There may be instances where you may not qualify for Direct loans or it may be that
you are not eligible for sufficient funding of your needs under this federal program.
If that is the case you might wish to pursue a Private Education Loan. In most instances
lenders will notify our office if you have applied for, and been approved for, a Private
Education Loan and request that we certify your enrollment status/eligibility. In
some instances you may need to either notify us that you have been approved or you
may need to provide us with a paper certification form. For more information concerning
this process check with your lender.
CSU does not maintain a Preferred Lender list for entities that offer Private Education
Loans nor do we recommend any particular private lender or private loan product. We
will perform eligibility certification for any private lender, or any loan product
they offer, that you desire.
The Higher Education Opportunity Act, passed by Congress in August of 2008, made a
provision that schools could provide a "historic lender list" to their students. The
provision recommends that such a list include all private lenders that had provided
loans to an institution's students over a set period of time. The recommendation suggests
a time period of at least 3-5 years. In keeping with this recommendation we have reviewed
our students' Private Education Loan lenders from the period beginning with the Fall
2020 semester through the present semester. Following is a listing, in alphabetical
order, of all such lenders. Click on the lender's name and you will be taken to its
web site.
Chase JPM - This lender is no longer accepting loan applications. There is always the possibility
that this lender will resume making Private Education Loans. We will update this web
page if we become aware of such an occurrence.
Should any additional lenders provide Private Education Loan funding to our students
they will be added to the above list.
Before applying for a Private Education Loan, we recommend you explore all other financial
aid options (e.g., grants, scholarships, federal loans, and federal work-study options).
Private Education Loans may cost more than federal loans because of higher unsubsidized
interest rates and uncapped interest rates. Additionally, you may not have as many
deferment options with a private loan as a Federal loan, nor can you consolidate a
Private Education Loan with your Federal loans.
As part of the application process for a Private Education Loan you must complete
a "Private Education Loan Applicant Self-Certification" form and submit it to your chosen lender. In most cases your lender will provide
you with this document. In the event that they do not you may download the form from
this web page.
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Counseling
Entrance Counseling
All students who will be receiving Direct Loans (Stafford and/or Graduate PLUS) must
complete the appropriate Direct Loans "Entrance Counseling" at studentaid.gov.
Log in - you will need your FSA ID - and complete the appropriate (either Undergraduate
or Graduate/Professional) Entrance Counseling.
Exit Counseling
If a student graduates or withdraws from the university, or if his/her enrollment
status is reduced to less than half-time, he/she is required to complete an "Exit Counseling" session at studentaid.gov.
Log in - you will need your FSA ID - and complete Exit Counseling.
What are your options?
The U.S. Department of Education provides a comprehensive web site concerning repayment
plans. Please access their How to Repay Your Loans website for details.
If you want to start paying you can go right ahead and send in your check or money
order, but what if you are short of money and can't meet your payment obligations?
There are many alternative payment arrangements available to assist you in repaying
your student loans should you find yourself in a situation where making full and timely
payments becomes a burden.
- Repayment Options: If the payments are too big for you to manage you may want to look into the repayment
options your lender/servicer has for you. You will find that they have payment programs
to fit just about everyone's budget. Many offer extended, graduated, interest-only
and/or income sensitive payment plans.
- Deferment and Forbearance: If you can’t keep up with the payments due to your economic situation (or if you
are delinquent) you should request postponement of payments from your lender. All
lenders have various deferment / forbearance options. In many cases you may file on-line
for postponement of payment!
- Loan Consolidation: If you have a large number of loans (especially if you attended several different
schools) and you’re having a hard time keeping track of them (or making the monthly
payments) you may want to consider loan consolidation.
Whatever your situation your lender/servicer wants to assist you in repaying your
student loans. There is no reason for you to be concerned about how you are going
to keep up with your payments (or for you to fall behind in payment) when you are
being offered so many opportunities to modify your payment schedule to meet your financial
situation.
But you have to take the first step. . .
Your Loan History (NSLDS) - If you are not sure which lender/servicer is holding your loans, or if you just
want to review your loan history, please visit our Your Loan History (NSLDS) web page.
Direct Loan Borrowers (Stafford and PLUS) - Beginning with the Summer of 2010 the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) William
D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, commonly known as “Direct Loans” or “DL”, became
the exclusive lender for Federal Stafford, Parent PLUS and Graduate PLUS loans at
Chicago State University. The Direct Loan Program has contracted with a number of
companies (more may be added in the future) to service loans obtained through the
Direct Loan Program.
The USDE's National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) provides information on your federal loans (parent's too if he/she borrowed a PLUS
loan) including loan types, disbursed amounts, outstanding principal and interest,
and the total amount of all your loans. To access NSLDS, go to www.nslds.ed.gov.
Loan Servicing - If you're not sure who your loan servicer is, you can look it up on www.nslds.ed.gov or call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243;
TTY 1-800-730-8913). To see a list of Federal Student Aid servicers for the Direct
Loan Program and for FFEL Program Loans purchased by the USDE, go to the USDE's Loan Servicers web page.
FFELLoan Borrowers (prior to Fall of 2010) - If you have FFEL loans (wherein the lenders were banks, insurance companies or student
loan companies) your loans may have been sold or transferred to another entity for
servicing. As with Direct Loans (discussed above) you will be able to locate your
loans by accessing NSLDS at www.nslds.ed.gov
If you have a student loan in DEFAULT . . . you can find out what options are available by clicking on this link to the U.S.
Department of Education's Getting out of Default web page. This resource provides comprehensive student loan default information developed
by the U.S D.E. Clicking on various tabs within that publication will give you information
about how to remove your loan from default, what to do if you have a dispute about
your loan's default status, and how to get answers to questions you might have.
Borrower Defense Loan Discharge - Assistance is available to you from the United States Department of Education in
the event that you experience a problem or a dispute with a lender/servicer/guarantor
of an existing student loan.
When you file a FAFSA, and include Chicago State University (CSU) as one of the schools
to which you wish your FAFSA information to be sent, upon receipt of your FAFSA results,
send you notification that a Financial Aid Offer has been generated for you. Notification
will be sent via e-mail. Your offer will include an itemization of the loans for which
you are eligible based either upon your enrollment status at CSU, if you are a continuing
student, or, if you are a new student at CSU, your eligibility will be based upon
your representations in your FAFSA as to what your academic standing will be at CSU
once you have been admitted. If you are accessing this web page to see what loans
you may qualify please go to our 
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