College Planning & Financial Aid

Possible Yes. Under certain circumstances. A discharge releases your parents from all obligations to repay the loan. A complete listing of the discharge conditions is given in your loans Borrower Rights documentation. Your parents' loan cannot be discharged because you did not complete your program of study at your school unless you were unable to complete the program because the school closed, didn't like the school or the program of study, or did not obtain employment after completing the program of study. For more information about loan discharge or repayment PLUS Loan borrowers should contact the lenders or agencies that hold their loans.

Generally, repayment must begin within sixty days after the final loan disbursement for the academic year. There is no grace period for these loans. This means that interest begins to accumulate at the time the first disbursement is made. Your parents must begin repaying both principal and interest while you are in school.

A Financial Aid Transcript also abbreviated as (FAT) is a record of all federal aid received by the student at each school attended. If you have previously attended an institution of higher education and are now applying for financial aid from the different university, the university will require a Financial Aid Transcript from each of the schools previously attended, regardless of whether aid was received or not. They are required to do this by federal law. You have to submit a Financial Aid Transcript even if you were in high school at the time. An electronic Financial Aid Transcript process will be in place soon which will eliminate the need for the student to submit a FAT. The FAT is not the same as an academic transcript.

If your parents are separated or divorced, the Custodial parent is responsible for filling out the FAFSA. The custodial parent is the parent with whom you lived the most during the past 12 months. This is not necessarily the same as the parent who has legal custody. If you did not live with one parent more than the other, the parent who provided you with the most financial support should fill out the FAFSA. This is probably the parent who claimed you as a dependent on their tax return. If you have not received any support from either parent during the past 12 months, use the most recent calendar year for which you received some support from a parent or lived with either parent.

Grace Period is a short time period after graduation during which the borrower is not required to begin repaying his or her student loans. The grace period may also kick in if the borrower leaves school for a reason other than graduation or drops below half time enrollment. Depending on the type of loan, you will have a grace period of six months for Stafford Loans or nine months for Perkins Loans before you must start making payments on your student loans. The PLUS Loans do not have a grace period.

Internship is a part time job during the academic year or the summer months in which a student receives supervised practical training in a their field. Internships are often very closely related to the student's academic and career goals, and may serve as a preparer to professional employment. Some internships provide very close supervision by a mentor in an apprenticeship like relationship. Some internships provide the student with monetary compensation.

Fellowship is a form of aid given to graduate students to help support their education. Some fellowships include a tuition waiver or a payment to the university instead of tuition. Most fellowships include an amount to cover reasonable living expenses. Fellowships are a form of gift aid and do not have to be repaid.

Endowment Funds are funds owned by an institution and invested to produce income to support the operation of the institution. Many educational institutions use a portion of their endowment income for financial aid. A school with a larger ratio of endowment per student is more likely to give larger financial aid packages.

The Award Letter is an official document issued by the schools financial aid office that lists all of the financial aid awarded to the student. This letter provides details on their analysis of your financial need and the breakdown of your financial aid package according to amount, source and type of aid. The award letter will include the terms and conditions for the financial aid and information about the cost of attendance. You are required to sign a copy of the letter, indicating whether you accept or decline each source of aid, and return it to the financial aid office. Some schools call the award letter the Financial Aid Notification.