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Office of FINANCIAL SERVICES

Change of Status of Enrolment and Financial Aid Requirements

Your status change at the university will affect your responsibilities as a borrower and this will include loan repayment.

Your requirement to repay will not be waived because you:

  • Don't complete your educational program.
  • Cannot find employment.
  • Were not satisfied with the education or other services your received from the university
  • Were notified that your loan was sold to another party by your lender.

You must make your repayments on time unless you have made special arrangements with the lender or servicer. The US government offer repayment incentives to reward you for paying on time. You should always make a minimum payment. The amount will vary depending on how much you have borrowed and your repayment schedule.

You are obligated to notify Macquarie University and your Loan servicer about changes in any of the following:

  • Change of name
  • Change of your current Australian address / phone numbers
  • Change of your Social Security Number
  • Withdrawal from University
  • Reduction in the study load from full-time
  • Change of your anticipated graduation date
  • Change of your driver's license number
  • Change of your references
  • Change of your permanent address

EXIT COUNSELLING

Prior to leaving the university, or if you drop below half-time enrolment, you must complete an Exit Counseling online session (see https://www.nslds.ed.gov/ ). The US regulation requires you to do an Exit Counseling in the last study period of your course or in the study period when you drop below half-time enrolment. The completion evidence (in hardcopy) of these counseling sessions must be submitted to the school/University. Failure to do so may affect your repayment conditions and/or eligibility for future funding.

On this counseling session, you may be counseled on your obligations, rights and options under the terms of your loan. This session will cover repayment options, deferments and other important information you may need during your repayment term. During this session you will need to provide the following information:

  • Name and address of closest living relative.
  • Two references (not the same as closest living relative) and with different addresses

REPAYMENT PLANS

When you leave university or drop below half-time enrolment, your grace period begins. This special feature of Federal Direct loans gives you six months before you must start making monthly principal and interest payments on your loans. If you re-enter university at least half time during your grace period, it is renewed for another six months. So you have the full grace period available when you leave university again.

Before repayment starts, you will be provided with repayment options and a Repayment Schedule from your lender or servicer for each type of loan you have. If you do not receive these schedules toward the end of your grace period, contact your lender because repayment begins whether or not you're aware of it. Also, all of the borrower benefits will only apply IF you make your first payment on time.

Type of Repayments

Standard Repayment

Under this plan, your monthly payment will remain the same over the entire repayment period. This repayment plan is the most economical. The term is for a maximum of 10 years.

Graduated Repayment

As the name suggests, this plan typically begins with smaller payments, followed by a gradual increase in payments at specified intervals. Under this plan you will probably pay more interest over the term of the loan. The term is for a maximum of 10 years.

Income-Sensitive Repayment

This plan ties the size of your payment to your income level, with adjustments to your payment made annually. The monthly payment must be large enough to cover accrued interest charges. This plan also may increase the amount of interest you pay over the term of your loan. The term is up to 10 years. However, your lender can use forbearance to lengthen the term for up to five additional years (15 years total).

Extended Repayment

This option is available for those who first borrowed on or after October 7, 1998, and who then accumulated loans that totaled more than $30,000. If you're one of these borrowers, you may extend your Standard or Graduated Repayment plan for up to a total of 25 years.

If at any time you need to change your repayment plan, contact your lender or servicer immediately. You may be required to provide documentation.

Loan Consolidation

By the time you finish university, you may have a number of loans. These loans may be with more than one lender and may have different terms. Repayment can become fairly complicated if you have to make different payments at different times of the month.

Consolidation is a way to make repayment of multiple loans less complicated. You can consolidate all your federal student loans into one loan with a fixed rate and a single, lower monthly payment. You pay no additional fees to consolidate your loans. More importantly, you may reduce the amount of each monthly payment by extending your repayment term. But remember that a longer repayment term increases the amount of interest you pay over the term of your loan. Consolidation loans offer terms ranging from 12 to 30 years. Repayment options on consolidation loans include: Standard, Graduated and Income Sensitive repayment plans.

To be eligible for a consolidation loan, you must be in a grace period, repayment, deferment, or forbearance. It is important to research loan consolidation very carefully as you may lose some borrower-benefits offered by your original lender. You should first discuss consolidation with your existing lenders. If your lender does not consolidate, they will most likely be able to recommend another lender.

As of the 16th May 2005 new information has been released by the US Department of Education in how lenders are required to deal with you the borrower in relation to: Lenders’ options for determining Federal Consolidation Loan Interest Rates and Permitting Borrower to Enter Repayment Early. The complete information is available at: http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN0508.html

Delinquency and Default

When your monthly payment is 30 days or more late, you are considered delinquent on your loan. Most lenders and servicers will contact you directly about delinquent payments and begin collection activity. Your delinquency may be reported to a credit bureau which could affect your credit rating.

Having a default on your credit history may affect you negatively in many ways. Please consider the following examples of having a bad credit rating:

  • It stops you from acquiring necessary finances, e.g. for home-loans and personal loans.
  • It may negatively affect your employment prospect as a lot of employers may be seeking such information.
  • If you are currently renting your accommodation, it may prevent you from securing your accommodation.
  • It stops you from utilizing further educational financial aid, if you ever decide to undertake further study.
  • You may be taken to court proceeding if the lender takes legal action, which will be very costly as the legal costs are usually added to the debt.
  • It may damage your reputation professionally in the long term.

The above are just some (not all) of the examples of the negative impacts on having a loan default (bad credit rating). I therefore strongly suggest that you contact your respected lenders and loan servicers to work with them to resolve your loan default status as it is in your best interest to do so.

If you expect to have a problem making a monthly payment, contact your loan Servicer immediately. It is always easier to discuss alternatives before the due date rather than after a payment is late.
If you fall 270 days behind on a scheduled payment, you are legally in default on your loan agreement. The Servicer can assume that you are not going to repay; and the Servicer may declare the entire amount you owe, including interest, as immediately due and payable.

Defaults are reported to credit bureaus and stay on your credit record, whether or not you eventually pay off the loan.

 

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