Loans

LOANS

Loans provide students with the opportunity to defer a portion of their educational costs and often form part of financial aid award packages. Woodbury offers the following loan programs:

William D. Ford Federal Direct Educational Loan Programs

• Federal Direct Loans (Subsidized and Unsubsidized)
• Federal Direct PLUS Loans (Parent Loans)
• Federal Direct Grad Plus Loans (graduate students only)

Woodbury University participates in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan programs. These loan programs are made available by the U.S. Department of Education. Direct Loans are low-interest loans for students and parents to help pay for the cost of a student’s education. The lender is the U.S. Department of Education (“the Department”) rather than a bank or other financial institution. As with all federal student aid, eligibility is determined by completing the FAFSA application. The information on your FAFSA is transmitted to the schools that you list on the application, and those schools use the information to assess your financial need for student aid. Your Financial Aid Award Letter will tell you the types of loans you are eligible to receive and the amounts you may borrow. Students and/or parents will be required to complete all loan documents at www. studentaid.gov in order to finalize the loan process.

With Direct Loans, you:

• Borrow directly from the federal government and have a single contact—the loan servicer—for

  everything related to the repayment of your loans, even if you receive Direct Loans at different schools.

• Have online access to your loan borrowing history at www.studentaid.gov/login.
• Have the flexibility of choosing from several repayment plans that are designed to meet the needs of the borrower. Borrowers also have the option of changing repayment plans if needs change. View repayment plan details at www. studentaid.gov/repay.

To calculate your estimated repayment amount under each of the different repayment plans, use the Department of Education’s repayment estimator at www.studentaid.gov/repayment-estimator.

The Federal Direct Loan Program (Direct Loan): Student loans are either subsidized or unsubsidized. Subsidized loans are awarded on the basis of financial need. Unsubsidized loans are not need-based and are available to students who do not qualify for subsidized loan funds. Subsidized and unsubsidized loans for undergraduates first disbursed after July 1, 2024, will be subject to an annual interest rate of 56.53% as determined by the Department of Education. For unsubsidized loans for graduate students, the interest rate is 8.08%. Maximum amounts that may be borrowed during an academic year as well as aggregate maximum amounts are outlined in the following chart.

Federal Direct PLUS Loans (Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students): The PLUS program allows parents to borrow to help meet dependent students’ educational costs. Eligibility is based on parent’s credit check. The amount of a PLUS Loan may not exceed the cost of education, minus any other financial aid received by the student. Loans made on or after July 1, 2024, will have an annual fixed interest rate of 9.08%. New PLUS borrowers begin repayment of principal and interest within 60 days of the disbursement of the new loan. However, parents may choose to postpone loan payments while the student is enrolled at least half time, and for an additional six months after the student graduates or drops below half-time status. To learn more about deferment options, visit www. studentaid.gov/deferment-forbearance.

Federal Direct Grad Plus Loans (Direct Loan):

Direct loans for graduate students are unsubsidized only. Unsubsidized loans are not awarded on the basis of need, but rather on the cost of attendance of your program. For loans first disbursed after July 1, 2024, the annual fixed interest rate is currently capped at 8.08%. Maximum amounts that may be borrowed during an academic year as well as aggregate maximum amounts are outlined in the following chart.

*If a parent borrower is denied a Parent PLUS loan, the dependent student may be eligible for an additional Direct Unsubsidized loan. However, if a parent borrower is later approved for the PLUS loan, the dependent student will no longer be eligible for the additional Direct Unsubsidized loan.