Information about Loans

Students must be enrolled in and attending at least six (6) credit hours per semester at Cowley College to receive a Stafford loan. (Summer hours are calculated the same as any other semester and you still need to be enrolled in 6 hours to be eligible for a loan.)

How To Apply for a Direct Stafford Student Loan

• Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  Available online at studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa.
• Complete your financial aid file, returning all requested documentation to the Financial Aid Office.
• Log into your Financial Aid Portal to Accept or Decline any aid offered to you as well as read and agree to the terms on the Student Responsibility Form.
• Complete the REQUIRED online loan steps to receive a Federal Loan at studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/loans.  You must complete BOTH the Undergraduate Entrance Counseling and the Master Promissory Note.
• For Additional Unsubsidized Stafford Loan funds, please check your Financial Aid portal for an application that you can fill out and submit online through your portal. 

Apply for Admission to Cowley College

Once all of the above steps have been completed, the Department of Education (DOE) will send CCCC notification of a loan to certify for that student. The Financial Aid Office will process the loan. The Department of Education will send the first disbursement of the Direct Stafford loan to the college via EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) according to the disbursement dates requested by the school. The DOE will notify the student of the loan details by mailing them a Disclosure Statement. Funds will be credited to the students’ accounts and will pay unpaid charges in the following order: tuition, fees, books, dorm and any other remaining charges. Any excess loan funds due to the student after the account is paid in full will be disbursed via paper check. (Students should maintain a current mailing address through Cowley Connect.)

All student loans are disbursed after the final Drop Day.  You must be enroll in and attending at least 6 credit hours to receive loan funds.  If the student is borrowing for the entire academic year (two semesters) the loan will be split in half and disbursed based on hours enrolled for each semester.  Each disbursement will have an origination fee and a guarantee fee deducted by the DOE.

A disbursement schedule can be found on the Financial Aid page of the Cowley website.  Disbursement dates are when the refunds will be mailed via a paper check. (The disbursement dates listed on the disclosure statement are the dates funds are made available to the school for processing) No refund will be released prior to the disbursement schedule dates. Loans processed after the initial disbursement schedule date will be disbursed every Friday thereafter.

All student loan borrowers are subject to the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy established by Cowley.  Students who drop below 6 credit hours before a loan is disbursed, will not receive that disbursement. The loan will be returned to the lender and canceled.

Loan limits per academic year (two semesters) is as follows: Freshman (1-30 completed hours) $3,500 per year.  Sophomore (31-or more completed hours) $4,500 per year. If a student applies for a loan for a single semester, the maximum allowed will be ½ of the yearly limit.

If a student wishes to borrow less on a Stafford Loan than the amount offered, simply adjust the amount in your Financial Aid Portal.

Additional Unsubsidized Direct Stafford Loan funds are available to “Dependent” and “Independent” students. To request Additional Unsubsidized Direct Stafford funds, complete the request form located in your Financial Aid Portal.  Maximum limit on Additional Unsubsidized Loan is $2,000 per academic year for dependent students and $6,000 per academic year for independent students. Eligibility for additional unsubsidized Stafford funds is determined on the students cost of attendance minus all other aid. Some students may not qualify for the full amount requested.

Student Rights and Responsibilities