Federal Loan Requirements
The requirements listed below must be completed to allow your federal loans to disburse onto your account and to allow your transcript to be released after you graduate. These requirements only need to be completed once during your graduate career. To complete any of the federal loan requirements listed below, you will need your personal FAFSA PIN. If you have forgotten your PIN, go to http://www.pin.ed.gov/ to request it. We encourage you to electronically save all information for your records.
Federal Student Loan Borrowers (including Grad PLUS)
Signing Your Direct Loan Electronic Master Promissory Note (eMPN)
Students who are borrowing a Federal Direct Loan for the first time and have already received a Financial Aid award letter must complete an eMPN.
Please note that students cannot sign their eMPN until they receive notification via email from the Financial Aid Office informing them of the web links to use. Do not try to complete these requirements until you have received your notification via email.
Graduate students who are borrowing from the Federal Direct Student Loan program and the Federal Direct Grad PLUS program must complete an eMPN for each loan program. The Grad PLUS loan must be credit-approved first before the promissory note can be signed.
There is no need to submit a copy of your eMPN to the Financial Aid Office. We will receive electronic notice that the eMPN has been signed and is valid. At that time, your Federal Direct Loan will be scheduled for disbursement.
In order to sign your eMPN, please visit www.dlenote.ed.gov. Signing your eMPN is a 10-step process and will require at least 30 minutes to complete.
Federal Direct Loan ENTRANCE COUNSELING
All first-time borrowers at the University of Rochester must complete loan entrance counseling before loan proceeds can be credited to their student accounts. Entrance counseling is required for Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans and for students who borrow from the Grad PLUS Loan program for the first time starting in the 2008-2009 academic year. This entrance counseling session will take approximately 25-30 minutes.
In the entrance counseling session, you will learn:
- your rights and responsibilities as a borrower
- information on interest rates, expenses, repayment plans, and other important details about borrowing
- who to contact with questions
Note: You may attempt to pass the quiz three times. If you do not pass on your third attempt, you must contact the Loan Coordinator at the Financial Aid Office to set up an in-person session.
After you complete the entrance interview quiz, our office will be notified by the U.S. Department of Education within approximately one week that you have completed entrance counseling.
Click here to begin the Direct Loan Entrance Counseling.
Federal Direct Loan EXIT COUNSELING
All students who have borrowed through the Federal Direct Student Loan program while at the University of Rochester must complete a loan exit counseling session during their last semester prior to graduation. Other conditions that require exit counseling include withdrawing, becoming inactive, or falling below half-time status. Exit counseling is required for the Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans; it is not required for the Grad PLUS Loan program for loans borrowed before the 2008-2009 academic year. This loan exit session will take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
If you do not complete a loan exit counseling session, your University of Rochester transcript will be held until this requirement has been completed.
In the exit counseling session, you will learn:
- your rights and responsibilities for repayment
- your repayment options
- how to defer your loans while in graduate school
- who your loan servicer is and how to contact them
After you complete the exit interview quiz, our office will be notified by the U.S. Department of Education within approximately one week that you have completed exit counseling.
Click here to begin the Direct Loan Exit Counseling
