Federal Stafford Loan

 

Federal Stafford Loans are a major form of self-help aid and are available through the Federal Family Educational Loan Program (FFELP). The payments on the Federal Stafford loans must be started six months after you graduate, leave school or drop below half-time enrollment. In order to receive a Stafford loan, a FASFA must be completed as part of the application process.

A student must be enrolled at least half-time and demonstrate financial need as determined by the information on the FASFA in order to receive a student loan.

The amount that a student can borrow under the Stafford Loan Program varies depending on your classification.


**As long as you do not exceed your cost attendance.

The total amount of debt that the student can have from all Stafford Loans combined is $23,000 as a dependent undergraduate; $46,000 as an independent undergraduate student (no more that $23,000 of this amount may be in subsidized loans); or as $138,500 as a graduate or professional student (no more that $65,000 of this amount may be subsidized loans). The graduate debt limit includes any Stafford Loans received as an undergraduate.

There are two types of Student Loans: Subsidized and Unsubsidized. Subsidized loans are when the government pays the interest during the time in which the student is attending school. Unsubsidized loans are when the student is responsible for paying the interest for the duration of his or her college career. The student also has to option to have the interest capitalized or added on to the total amount of the loan.

If the student is a first-time borrower at Texas A&M University-Kingsville he/she will have to participate a Pre-loan Counseling Session offered by the Financial Aid Office. Click here for more information on Pre-loan Counseling Sessions.

The payments on the loans will star after the student has graduated, or leave school or when he/she has dropped below haft-time status. The student has a six month grace period before they begin to repay the loans. When a student leaves school or drops below half-time, enrollment notification will be sent of when repayment of loans are due to begin. However, the student is responsible for beginning repayments even if they do not receive this information. Also if a student withdrawals, or falls below half time enrollment, the student will need to attend a Loan Exit Counseling.  This can be done two ways, the first way is to watch a exit video or go online at http://www.mapping-your-future.org to complete the exit counseling.

Upon leaving Texas A&M University-Kingsville, the student must attend an Exit Counseling session provided by the Financial Aid Office. Click here for more information on Exit Counseling Sessions.