Counseling Requirements

If you are a first-time borrower, you are required to complete Direct Loan entrance counseling prior to receiving the first disbursement of a Direct Loan. Counseling is completed online at studentaid.gov and will help you understand your rights and obligations as a student loan borrower. Loan counseling must be completed before you can receive loan funds.

• Take a few minutes to check out Federal Student Aid’s Video on Responsible Borrowing . Remember, just because you can borrow money, that does not mean you should borrow money. Keep in mind that there are limits to the amount of money that you can borrow through the federal  student loan program.

While it is not required, we would like to encourage everyone to annually complete Financial Awareness Counseling . This will help you keep track of the amount of money that you are borrowing and provide you with some tools to help you make informed financial decisions.

Federal regulations also require that you complete exit counseling to help you to understand the responsibilities and repayment obligations for your student loans. Exit counseling is completed online. To supplement this counseling, the U.S. Department of Education has compiled the Exit Counseling Guide for Federal Student Loan Borrowers. This process should be completed before you graduate; before transferring to another institution; before withdrawals and leaves of absence; or if you are enrolled less than half time.

• Take a few minutes to check out Federal Student Aid’s YouTube video on Repayment: What to Expect.
• Learn about Loan Repayment.

While your loan servicer should contact you when you enter repayment, you are ultimately responsible for paying back your loans. We want to encourage all borrowers to periodically review and update (if necessary) their information on the National Student Loan Data System for Students.