Stafford Loans

Eligibility:

Stafford Loans are awarded to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students who meet the following criteria:

• Enrolled in an eligible degree-seeking program

• Enrolled at least half-time (6 credits for undergraduate students, 4 credits for graduate/professional students)

There are two types of Stafford Loans:

• Subsidized Stafford Loan

• Unsubsidized Stafford Loan

How to apply:

Students must complete a FAFSA application.  After satisfying all of your requirements, a Financial Award Offer will be sent to you.   

If your Financial Award Offer includes Stafford Loan(s), please go to your UH Portal and indicate the loan amounts for each loan that you are accepting.  You may accept or decline the entire or a portion of the amount offered.  Once you have accepted your loan(s), please complete the following steps: 

1. Complete Your Entrance Interview:

If you have NOT completed an Entrance Interview with the University of Hawaii at Manoa as your home campus, you must do so before your loan can be processed.  Please click here to complete your Entrance Interview on-line or go to

https://staffordloanguide.usafunds.org/login.aspx?schoolId=00161000

2. Choose a Lender:

If you have not done so already, please read the following carefully to choose a lender.

The University of Hawaii at Manoa does not recommend any lender(s).  Students may select any lender that participates in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program.  

We encourage you to go to the websites of several lenders that you may be interested in and compare their loan benefits which include fees and repayment incentives; and customer service, which include loan servicer, life-of-loan servicing, hours of availability, electronic processing, etc. before making your decision.   

Please note that because of the recent credit crisis, many lenders have decided to stop participating in the Federal Educational Loan Program.  As part of your research, please verify that your selected lender is still participating. 

If you would like to see a list of lenders that were utilized by our students and parents in the 2008-2009 school year, please click here or go to  

http://www.hawaii.edu/fas/lenderOptions.html 

Please note that you may choose to use any lender, provided that they are participating in the Federal Family Education Loan Program.  If your Lender is NOT listed, please confirm with them that they are a participant.  If they are, please work with them to sign their Master Promissory Note.  We will also need a Loan Certification Request from your lender, which can be faxed or mailed to us. 

3. Complete and Sign your Master Promissory Note:

A signed Master Promissory Note (MPN) is required by a lender before they can disburse your loan funds. For your convenience, we have placed hyperlinks on each of the lenders listed that will either allow you to either electronically sign their MPN, or get more information (some lenders do not have MPNs that you can electronically sign).

Subsidized Stafford Loan

• Declining fixed interest rate for undergraduate students only:
  • Disbursed on July 1, 2008–June 30, 2009 the interest rate is 6%.
  • Disbursed on July 1, 2009–June 30, 2010 the interest rate is 5.6%.
  • Disbursed on July 1, 2010–June 30, 2011 the interest rate is 4.5%.
  • Disbursed on July 1, 2011–June 30, 2012 the interest rate is 3.4%.
  • Disbursed after July 1, 2012 the rate is 6.8%.
• Fixed interest rate of 6.8% for loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2006 for graduate students
• Government pays the interest on subsidized loans during school and certain other periods
• Students choose their lender.  The lender is a bank, credit union, or other participating private lender.
• The length of repayment is between 10 and 25 years depending on the amount owed and the type of repayment plan selected.

Unsubsidized Stafford Loan

• Fixed interest rate of 6.8% for loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2006
• Government does not pay the interest on this loan.  Students are responsible for interest accrued.  Interest accrues on this loan once funds are released to the school.
• Students choose their lender.  The lender is a bank, credit union, or other participating private lender.
• The length of repayment is between 10 and 25 years depending on the amount owed and the type of repayment plan selected.

Repayment begins 6 months after you fall below half-time, leave school, or graduate.   When this happens, you will need to conduct an exit interview.   You will then need to work with your lending servicer for payment arrangements and information.

Stafford Loan Limits: (as of July 1, 2008)