Step One:
Direct Loan Entrance Counseling
All Students are required to complete the counseling session. Simply click on the link above and follow the instructions. The Financial Aid office will be notified electronically that you have fulfilled this important requirement. Failure to complete this session will delay your loan funds.
Step Two:
Direct Loan Master Promissory Note
Students simply click on the link above to sign your Direct Loan MPN. The MPN must be signed in order to receive your loan funds. Once you access the site, information for the MPN is on the left side of the page. You will need your FAFSA PIN number to complete your MPN. If you do not remember your PIN, you may access the PIN site for retrieval. Parent Loan Borrowers may also click on the above link and follow the steps required for a credit check and apply for a Parent (PLUS) loan. If approved, you will complete the necessary application (you will need a FAFSA PIN number) for funding. SWU will be notified of your request and will be able to award the PLUS loan. PLUS Loan borrowers are required to complete the FAFSA before SWU can process the loan request.
Private educational loan information
SWU has compiled a list of private lenders that previous borrowers have used the past academic year. These lenders have indicated they will continue to offer such educational loans to prospective borrowers. By clicking on the link above you will be directed to complete your Promissory Note for a Private Educational Loan. You must sign your Promissory Note electronically using one of the electronic signature options available.
After completing your Promissory Note, the Financial Aid Office at Southern Wesleyan University will be notified by the lender in order to certify and award your private loan.
Direct Lending Frequently Asked Questions
(Click here for printable PDF version)
Beginning in fall 2010, Southern Wesleyan University began participating in the William D. Ford Direct Loan program. Student and parent borrowers will receive funding for their federal student loans directly from the U.S. Department of Education rather from private banks and other lending institutions as previous through the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). Below is a list of questions related to the Direct Loan Program that should help students and families understand how this program works.
Q. What are Direct Loans?
A. Direct Loans are federally insured low-interest education loans for students and parents. These include the Direct Subsidized Loan, the Direct Unsubsidized Loan, the Direct Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) and the Direct Graduate PLUS Loan programs for graduate and professional students.
Q. Why is SWU changing to the Direct Loan Program?
A. The Direct Loan Program will provide SWU students with a reliable source of educational loan funding. While volatility in the credit markets and reductions in lender subsidies have caused some lenders to stop making federal student loans or to stop offering borrower benefits and other services, the Direct Loan Program is not impacted by such changes in the economy and can therefore provide a stable and predictable loan process.
Q. Does this change impact me?
A. If you are a new or continuing student or parent borrower who plans to borrow a federal loan, this change will affect you.
Q. Will other student aid programs such as federal and state grants be affected by what is happening with student loans?
A. No, those programs are not affected.
Q. Are there any loan fees associated with these loans?
A. For the Parent PLUS loan, there is a 4 percent fee that is assessed. For the Direct Student Loan, there is a 1 percent fee that is assessed. There are repayment incentives available once the borrower enters loan repayment. Click here for additional information: http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/repaying.jsp.
Q. What will happen to the existing loans that I have borrowed with other lenders? Will I have to repay two different lenders now?
A. Any loan(s) you borrowed from another lender either here at SWU or at another institution will be maintained by the lender/servicer with whom you signed your original MPN. Your Direct Loan will be serviced by the Department of Education. You will receive correspondence and payment information from both the Department of Education and your prior lender/servicer.
Once you graduate or choose not to attend school at least half time, you will have the option to combine your existing federal education loans into one new loan with the Federal Consolidation Loan Program. With a consolidation loan, you will have only one payment to make each month and one lender. To learn more about consolidation, access this web site. You may review all of your loans at the student access web site for the National Student Loan Data System.