William D. Ford Direct Student Loans
- Application process for first-time Direct Loan borrowers
- Complete Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Our school code is 002780.
- Receive award information from Student Financial Services. If you choose to accept the loans listed on the award notice, simply proceed to step 3. If you wish to have your loan adjusted, please contact our office at sfs@newschool.edu.
- Complete Entrance Interview online at studentloans.gov
- Complete electronic Master Promissory Note (MPN), also at studentloans.gov. Our federal school code for loans is 020662.
- The federal student loan servicing center will notify our office upon successful completion of your entrance interview and MPN. We will then certify your enrollment and eligibility and process your loans.
- Funds will be disbursed directly to The New School, and you will be notified when these funds have been applied to your account. Note that your financial aid file must be complete (all requested verification documents received and processed) before your federal student loans can be disbursed.
Amount you can requestÂ
There are limits to the amount you can borrow under the federal student loan program. The following chart estimates the maximum borrowing level based on your year in school and dependency status. Please contact us or the Department of Education for further information on annual and aggregate limits. For specific amounts, please refer to your Financial Aid Award Letter or log on to MyNewSchool.
The regulation changes for 2012 - 13 will affect all students receiving federal aid. We want to make the changes as clear as possible; if there's any ambiguity, please let us know.
Any student receiving a subsidized or unsubsidized loan will be assessed a fee of 1%. This is an increase over the fee of 0.5% from last year as the automatic rebate has been eliminated. For undergraduate students' subsidized loans, the interest rate increases from 3.4% to 6.8% as of July 1. The interest rate for undergraduate and graduate unsubsidized loans remains 6.8% .
Please note that unsubsidized loans accrue interest while you are in school, but payment is deferred until after graduation.
The origination fee for a Parent PLUS or Grad PLUS loan has increased to 4% (from 2.5%). The interest rate stays steady at 7.9% with payments due 60 days after final disbursement. This can be deferred until after graduation if you choose.
If you're a graduate student, we have unfortunate news
subsidized loans are no longer available. You can therefore only receive unsubsidized direct loans next year. Unsubsidized loans will be increased to a maximum of $20,500 per year to compensate, and students can still opt to pay interest while in school, which is highly advisable.
Please let us know if you have any questions about this. We are happy to answer any concerns you may have.
| Â |
Subsidized Amount |
Unsubsidized Amount |
Net Total |
| 1st Dependent Undergrad |
$3,500 |
$2,000 |
$5,445 |
| 1st Year Independent Undergrad |
$3,500 |
$6,000 |
$9,405 |
| 2nd Year Dependent Undergrad |
$4,500 |
$2,000 |
$6,435 |
| 2nd Year Dependent Undergrad |
$4,500 |
$6,000 |
$10,395 |
| 3rd/4th Year Dependent Undergrad |
$5,500 |
$2,000 |
$7,425 |
| 3rd/4th Year Dependent Undergrad |
$5,500 |
$7,000 |
$12,375 |
| Grad |
Ineligible |
$20,500 |
$20,295 |
Aggregate Limits for Direct Loans
| |
Subsidized |
Total (subsidized and unsubsidized) |
| Dependent Undergraduates |
$23,000 |
$31,000 |
| Independent Undergraduates and Dependent Students whose parent is ineligible for PLUS |
$23,000 |
$57,500 |
| Graduate/Professional |
$65,500 |
$138,500 |
Direct Loans
The interest rate for direct loans is now 6.8%, while the subsidized undergraduate loan interest rate remains at 3.4%. Each has a 1% origination fee which we have calculated in the following table. Please note that any students whose parents are ineligible to borrow the PLUS loan qualify for independent loan levels, so long as the parents provide PLUS ineligibility documentation every year.
