Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans for Students

Effective July 1, 2012:

1. Loss of Subsidized Loan Eligibility for Graduate and professional Students and
2. Termination of Direct Loan Borrower Repayment Incentives

 

The Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 (Pub. L. 112-25) was signed into law on August 2, 2011. This Act makes two changes to the William D. Ford Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program:

1. Loss of Subsidized Loan Eligibility for Graduate and Professional Students

Effective for loans made for periods of enrollment (loan periods) beginning on or after July 1, 2012, graduate and professional students are no longer eligible to receive Federal Direct Subsidized Loans. The terms and conditions of Direct Subsidized Loans received by any student for loan periods beginning before July 1, 2012, for either graduate or undergraduate study, are not affected by this change.

The annual loan limit for graduate and professional students remains unchanged at $20,500 ($47,167 for certain health professions students), but this amount will now be limited to Direct Unsubsidized Loans.

 

Annual Loan Limit for Graduate/ Professional Students
	Loans for loan periods beginning before July 1, 2012			Loans for loan periods beginning on or after July 1, 2012
	Subsidized Loan Max	Unsubsidized Loan Max		Subsidized Loan Max	Unsubsidized Loan Max
All Graduate and Professional Students	$8,500	$20,500, less any subsidizedamount received		$0	$20,500

The aggregate loan limit for graduate and professional students remains unchanged at $138,500 ($224,000 for certain health professions students), not more than $65,500 of which may be in subsidized loans.

 

2. Termination of Direct Loan Borrower Repayment Incentives

With one exception as noted below, the BCA terminates the authority of the Department of Education (the Department) to offer any repayment incentives to Direct Loan borrowers to encourage on-time repayment of loans, including any reduction in the interest rate or origination fee, effective for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2012. As a result of this change, the up-front interest rebate that has been provided to Direct Loan borrowers at the time of their loan disbursement will no longer be offered on any Direct Loan Program loan with a first disbursement date that is on or after July 1, 2012.

The law continues to authorize the Department to offer interest rate reductions to Direct Loan borrowers who agree to have payments automatically electronically debited from a bank account.

The following outlines the process all students must complete if they are interested in applying for Federal Financial Assistance while attending the Arizona School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ASAOM). If you have any questions throughout this process, please stop by the Financial Aid Office.

• Prior to completing the Free Application for Federal Student Assistance (FAFSA) students should request a Personal Identification Number (PIN) from the U.S. Department of Education. This number is used for electronic signatures on the FAFSA as well as student loan promissory notes.

  NOTE: Student must have an email account set up prior to applying for this code as the PIN is sent to this address within 24-48 hours after request. It should also be kept in a safe place as the same number is used each year the student is interested in applying for Federal Student Assistance.

• When you have received your PIN number, all students should complete the FAFSA online.
  Our school Federal code is g36955-00

  Some students applying for Federal Financial Assistance are selected for a process called verification. This is a random selection determined by the U.S. Department of Education in which the Financial Aid Office is required to verify that certain data fields on the FAFSA application were completed accurately. If you are selected, the Financial Aid Office will contact you separately with a list of documents you will need to complete/submit for this process. Your financial aid will not be completed until you have submitted all appropriate forms to the Financial Aid Office and corrections, if needed, have been made accordingly.

• An Award Letter is then given to all students which must be signed and returned to the Financial Aid Office for your financial aid to be processed. This award letter informs you of what loan programs and loan amounts are available to you to assist in paying the cost of attendance.
• If you are eligible for the loan programs, you must now select your loan provider. For best service, asaom has listed lenders for each of these programs. Please note that if you are applying for a Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, only one application is needed for both loans. However, a separate loan application is needed if you are also applying for an Alternative Loan.

We thank you again for selecting the Arizona School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. We look forward to serving your needs so please ask us if you have any questions about the financial aid process.

• Approximately 3 weeks after you have completed the FAFSA, you receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) in the mail from the federal processor. Review the information on the SAR for accuracy. If corrections need to be made, follow the instructions on the SAR.
• If the SAR indicates the student’s application has been selected for review in a process called verification, the student must submit to the office of financial aid signed copies of the federal tax returns and other documents.

 

 

ARIZONA STUDENT LOAN CODE OF CONDUCT (Click here to download a pdf copy).

 

 1. Definitions

a. “Employee” or “School employee” means any employee, agent, student financial aid contractor, director, officer or trustee of the School. For purposes of the Code provisions relating to gifts and stock ownership, this term includes family members of the Employee. For purposes of Paragraph 2 of this Code, this term includes family members living in the same household as the Employee.

b. “School” means all colleges, campuses, departments or other components of the higher education institution adopting this Code of Conduct that are either located in Arizona or that offer on-line classes to Arizona residents, including alumni associations if the associations are under the institution’s control and are not separately incorporated.

c. “Student loan lender” or “lender” means any entity involved in making, holding, consolidating, originating, servicing or guaranteeing any loan to students or parents to finance higher education expenses. This includes lenders who provide private educational loans as well as lenders who provide loans that are made, insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education, except loans under the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program.

 

2. Employee Compensation Prohibition

No employee of the School or “school-affiliated organization” (as defined in 34 CFR 682.200(b)(5)(i)(A)(8)) shall accept or solicit anything of other than nominal value from a student loan lender.

“Nominal value” means a total retail value of not more than ten dollars ($10.00) as calculated over a 12-month period, or as defined by a School policy consistent with applicable federal and state law. This paragraph shall not prohibit School employees from conducting non-student lending business with any lender or accepting or soliciting anything of other than nominal value in any activity unrelated to student loans.

 

3. Lender Advisory Board Restrictions

A School employee shall not accept any remuneration or reimbursement of expenses for serving as a member of or otherwise participating on a student loan lender’s advisory board or committee, consistent with applicable federal student loan requirements.

 

4. Financial Relationship Prohibition

A person employed in the financial aid office of the School, or who otherwise has direct responsibilities with respect to educational loans or other financial aid, shall:

a. avoid any equity or other interest in any student loan lender other than a remote interest;

b. avoid consulting or similar financial relationships with student loan lenders, and

c. comply with the School’s Conflict of Interest Policies & Procedures.

 

5. Institutional Compensation Prohibition

a. The School will not accept anything of value from a student loan lender in exchange for any advantage or consideration provided to the lender related to its education loan activity. This prohibition shall include, but not be limited to: (1) the School’s receipt from any lender of any computer hardware for which the School pays below market prices, (2) preferential rates for, or access to, a lender’s other financial products and (3) printing costs or services. Notwithstanding anything else in this paragraph, the School may accept assistance as contemplated by 34 CFR 682.200(b).

b. The School shall not engage in revenue sharing with a student loan lender. “Revenue sharing” means any arrangement under which a student loan lender pays a higher education institution or an affiliated entity or organization a certain sum, fee or percentage calculated in relationship to the volume of loans received by the lender from students of the institution.

 

6. Preferred Lender List Requirements

a. Best Interests of Students Paramount. If the School decides to develop and/or publish any list of suggested, recommended or preferred student loan lenders (“preferred lender list” or “lender list”), the School shall develop and maintain any lender list based solely on the best interests of students and parents borrowers.

b. Required Disclosures. The School shall prominently disclose on all publications of a preferred lender list:

i. the process and criteria by which the list was assembled,

ii. comparative information regarding interest rates and other benefits offered by the lenders; and

iii. that borrowers have the right and ability to select lenders not included on the list.

c. Prompt Certification of Loans from Any Lender. The School will timely certify any loan from any lender selected by the borrower that offers the loan, to the extent consistent with applicable federal student loan requirements. The School will not cause unnecessary certification delays for borrowers who use a lender that has not been recommended or suggested by the School.

d. Minimum Number of Lenders Required. The School shall ensure there are at least three (3) student loan lenders named on each preferred lender list which are not “affiliates” of each other, as described in 34 C.F.R. § 682.212 (h)(3).

e. Review and Update of Preferred Lender Lists. Preferred lender lists must be reviewed and updated at least once a year. When publishing preferred lender lists, the School shall either rotate or randomize the list of lenders or list them alphabetically.

f. Loan Resale. The School shall require that all lenders on a preferred lender list commit in writing to disclose to the borrower before a loan agreement is signed whether there is an existing agreement to sell loans to another lender, and if so, the contact information for the lender who will be purchasing the borrower’s loan. The School shall inform student and parent borrowers that lenders can, and do, sell student loans, and encourage borrowers to contact their lenders for more information. Further, the School may remove a lender from its preferred lender list if that lender sells loans without ensuring that the advertised loan terms and benefits are honored with the new lender.

g. Different Types of Loans. The School shall not include a student loan lender on a preferred lender list for one type of loan in exchange for benefits provided by the lender with respect to a different type of loan.

 

7. Promotion of Preferred Lenders Prohibited

The School shall not allow a lender included on a preferred lender list to use the name, emblem, mascot or logo of the School or other words, pictures, or symbols readily identified with the School, in the marketing of private educational loans to the students attending the School that implies the School endorses the private educational loans offered by the lender.

 

8. Master Promissory Notes

The School shall inform borrowers of the procedure(s) for completing the Master Promissory Note or other loan agreement with the lender of the borrower’s choice, whether or not the lender appears on the School’s preferred lender list.

 

9. Lender Restriction Prohibition.

The School shall not restrict borrowers to any particular type of lender (e.g., those that process loans electronically).

 

10. School as Lender.

If the School participates in the School as Lender program under 20 U.S.C. § 1085(d)(1)(E) and has an agreement to sell student loans to another lender, it must (a) disclose the existence of the agreement to the borrower and provide contact information for the lender who will be purchasing the borrower’s loan and (b) require that any lender to whom the loans are sold honors the loan terms and benefits the School advertised to borrowers.

 

11. Private Loans a Last Resort

The School shall not certify student eligibility for a private educational loan without first informing the borrower that (a) federal financial assistance (including grants and loans under Title IV) may be available and (b) federal loans may provide more advantageous terms to the borrower than private loans.

 

12. Opportunity Loans

a. The School shall not enter into an opportunity loan agreement with a student loan lender under which the School provides concessions or promises to the lender that prejudice other borrowers. An “opportunity” loan means a student loan provided to borrowers with poor or no credit history, or who otherwise would not meet the student loan lender’s eligibility criteria.

b. The School shall not certify student eligibility for an opportunity loan made available pursuant to an agreement between the School and a lender unless (i) the agreement includes the option of short term or partial loans not to exceed one year and (ii) the School informs the borrower of the short term or partial loan option, so the borrower can consider different or less expensive financing if the borrower’s financial condition improves.

 

13. Staffing Assistance from Lenders

The School shall not request or accept from any lender any assistance with call center or financial aid office staffing, including in-person school-required initial or exit counseling, except as permitted by applicable federal student loan requirements. The School shall ensure that any lender employees on campus are accurately represented as such and not misidentified as School agents or employees. While lenders may provide professional development training to financial aid administrators and participate in financial literacy outreach activities, lender employees must clearly disclose the name of the entity preparing any written materials and may not promote the lender’s products.

 

14. Implementation

a. The School agrees to publish the Arizona Student Loan Code of Conduct prominently on its website within ten business days of its adoption by the School.

b. The School shall require all of its employees with direct responsibilities relating to student loans to obtain training concerning the Arizona Student Loan Code of Conduct, applicable federal and state student loan laws and regulations, and related School policies and procedures within 90 days of the date the School adopts this Code or, for new employees, within 90 days of the date of hire. The School shall adopt procedures to ensure these employees maintain current knowledge of the Code and applicable regulations.

 

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¹ For the purposes of this Code, “Remote interest” is defined as:

“the ownership of less than three per cent of the shares of a corporation for profit, provided the total annual income from dividends, including the value of stock dividends, from the corporation does not exceed five per cent of the total annual income of such officer or employee and any other payments made to him by the corporation do not exceed five per cent of his total annual income.” See generally A.R.S. § 38-502(e).