Graduating/Leaving UW-Stevens Point

EXIT LOAN COUNSELING

What is Exit Counseling?

Federal regulations require all federal student loan borrowers to complete exit loan counseling each time they drop below half-time enrollment, graduate, or leave school. It is an online task through studentaid.gov. The entire counseling process must be completed in a single session. Most students complete counseling in 20-30 minutes. Because this information is so important, students should not rush through the counseling process.
There are 5 sections within Federal Student Aid Exit Counseling:

  • Understand Your Loans- review loan balances and basics
  • Plan to Repay- repayment tools and incentives
  • Avoid Default- avoiding delinquency/default; loan forgiveness
  • Finances: A Priority- planning for your future, taxes, and credit information
  • Repayment Information- borrower information, references, and repayment plans

View our Exit Counseling presentation for more detailed information.

Who must complete Exit Counseling?

If you have received a subsidized, unsubsidized or PLUS loan(s) under the Direct Loan Program, you must complete exit counseling each time you:

  • Drop below half-time enrollment
  • Graduate
  • Leave School
How do I complete Exit Counseling?

To complete exit counseling for subsidized/unsubsidized loans and PLUS Loans under the Direct Loan Program:

  • Log in to studentaid.gov using your FSA ID.
  • Use of another person’s FSA ID constitutes fraud. Use only your own FSA ID.
  • Navigate to the Manage Loans tab and select “Complete Exit Counseling.”
  • Select the school(s) you want to notify of counseling completion.

Additionally, we created an optional Canvas course for UWSP students and staff! To self-enroll, go to https://uwstp.instructure.com/enroll/WXYG8K. Exit counseling through studentaid.gov is mandatory where as this Canvas course is optional.

How do I access Exit Counseling?

Navigate to studentaid.gov. Under the Manage Loans tab, select Complete Exit Counseling. Log in using your FSA ID to start and complete the required counseling.

To view the counseling before completing, you may use the demo link to view the content.

Will I be able to save my Exit Counseling sessions and return at a later time to complete it?

No, your progress will not be saved if you navigate away from your exit counseling session or logout of the website.

LOAN REPAYMENT

Staying on Top of Your Loans 

It’s important to stay on top of your student loan payments. Once your loan enters repayment, you’re responsible for making those payments, even if you end up employed in a different field or you decide to complete your education later. Tracking all of your loans and their monthly payments can help you stay on top of financial obligations, seek help when you need it, and save for the things you want. Organizing all your loan information with our Student Loan Tracker PDF and using a simple Budget Worksheet PDF can help you stay on track with important expenses. 

Lenders and servicers are there to help. Delinquency and default of your student loans can create problems in the future, but contacting your lender or servicer can help you maintain your financial health.

Loan Repayment

While you, the student, are enrolled half-time or higher in a degree program your loans will be in in-school deferment status.

Your Federal Direct Subsidized loans, Federal Perkins loans, and institutional loans will not accrue interest while you are in school. However, Federal Unsubsidized and Private Student Loans will accrue interest throughout the life of the loan.

Once you drop below half-time enrollment all student loans will enter grace period status (either 6 or 9 months depending on the loan type), followed by repayment status.

Your assigned Federal Direct Loan servicer will be in contact with you during school and during your grace period to prepare you for repayment. Your first loan payments are normally due a month after the grace period ends. Your loan history and loan servicer(s) information can be found on the Manage Loans tab on the Federal Student Aid website. A full listing of all the federal loan servicers can also be found on the Federal Student Aid website.

View our Loan Repayment Calculator page for additional information. Additionally, if you borrowed from private entities, view FASTChoice Repayment Essentials counseling, sponsored by WI Department of Financial Institutions, to help prepare for repayment.

Know Your Loans

Federal Direct Loan History via My Federal Student Aid

https://studentaid.gov/​

Log in using your FSA ID. You will see a list of your federal loans borrowed to date. Click on the number next to each loan to find the interest rate, loan status and contact information for the company who is servicing the loan.

Perkins Loan History – Heartland ECSI

https://heartland.ecsi.net/index.main.html#/access/signIn

Your full history of Perkins loans can be found online through ECSI.

Private Educational Loans

www.annualcreditreport.com

Contact the bank or credit union that you borrowed from directly or review your credit report.

Exit Loan Counseling

Exit counseling is an online tutorial that reviews the loan terms of the loans you borrowed and gives you a chance to review your loan details, repayment plans and update your contact information. You will receive emails from the school if you need to complete loan exit counseling. This usually happens right before you graduate or just after you drop below half-time enrollment. For more information, review the Exit Loan Counseling FAQ’s above.

Federal Direct Loans – https://studentaid.gov/exit-counseling/​

Federal Perkins & Institutional Loans – https://heartland.ecsi.net/index.main.html#/access/signIn

Set-up Online Access with Servicers

Your loan servicer has probably been in contact with you since you borrowed your loans. They will encourage you to set up an account on their website so you can learn about the following:

  • When your loan grace period(s) end:
    • Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loans have a 6 month grace period.
    • Perkins & Institutional loans have a 9 month grace period.
    • Private loans typically have a 6 month grace period, but you’ll need to confirm the length with your lender.
  • When your first payment is due and how much the payment will be.
  • What your interest rate is for each loan.​​

Federal Direct Loans – https://studentaid.gov/​

Federal Perkins & Institutional Loans – https://heartland.ecsi.net/index.main.html#/access/signIn

Repayment Options

Federal Direct Loans

Use the Federal Student Aid Repayment Est​imator to review what your monthly payment would be in all the various repayment plans, and then choose one that suits your financial situation. Work with your loan servicer to get the plan set up before your first payment is due.

Federal Direct Loan Forgiveness Programs

The Department of Education offers two loan forgiveness programs to encourage borrowers to enter full-time public service or teach in certain high-need areas in high-need subjects.

Perkins Loans

Set up repayment through Heartland ECSI – https://heartland.ecsi.net/index.main.html#/access/signIn

Consolidation Loan

A consolidation loan combines multiple loans into one large loan. More detailed information can be found on the Federal Student Aid website. Federal Subsidized, Unsubsidized, GradPLUS, and Perkins Loans can be consolidated together, but NOT institutional or private loans. Consolidation extends payment period up to 25 years, depending on the amount you owe. A new interest rate is calculated and based on a weighted average of all loans put into consolidation. Your grace period ends once the consolidation is final, so complete consolidation near the end of your grace period, if possible. Subsidized Direct Loan and Perkins loans will begin to accrue interest once you consolidate them so complete consolidation near the end of your grace period, if possible. 

Automatic Payment

Setting up automatic loan payments from your bank account every month means your payments will never be late! If you’ve got a Federal Direct Loan, signing up for automatic payments may also make you eligible for a 0.25% monthly interest rate reduction. Work with your loan servicer to get automatic loan payments set up before your first payment is due.

WITHDRAWALS

Withdrawals – Return from Title IV Policy

Federal Regulation 34 CFR 668.22 specifies how a school must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance you earn if you withdraw from school. The Title IV programs offered by the university are covered by this law are as follows: Federal Pell Grants, Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants, Direct Loans, Direct PLUS Loans, and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG).

Should you withdraw before the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is received, a financial aid offer cannot be made since we are unable to retroactively offer aid for that period of enrollment. Additionally, the deadline to apply for financial aid is typically 1-2 weeks before the last day of your enrollment in the academic year. Be aware, we must receive and be able to make a financial aid offer before the last day of your enrollment in a given term.

There are two types of withdrawals, official withdrawals and unofficial withdrawals.

  • The official withdrawal date is determined by the Office of the Registrar based on when a student drops all of their classes, or notifies a university official of their intent to withdraw. 
  • Unofficial withdrawals occur when students failed to attempt and/or participate in their classes as reported by their instructors at the end of each semester. UWSP’s F grade policy requires that all F grades be reported with the corresponding week the student last participated in the class. The withdrawal date is the Friday of week of the highest F grade received.

The “Return to Title IV” calculation has several steps. Below is the pertinent information involved in the calculation.

  • The school determines the amount of Title IV financial aid that has been disbursed to your account versus the amount of Title IV financial aid that could have been disbursed to your account. In most cases the full amount of aid will have disbursed. In the instance that your aid has not been disbursed you may be eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement.
  • The school determines the amount of time you attended versus the total days of the semester. Breaks of five or more days during the semester are removed from the total days of the semester.  The calculation is represented as a percentage of aid the student has earned.
  • The school multiplies the percentage of aid earned by the total amount of disbursed aid and aid that could have disbursed.  This is the amount of aid the student has earned.
  • The school takes the amount of aid the student has earned and subtracts it from the total aid disbursed for the student. This is the amount of aid the student has not earned.
  • The school determines the amount of institutional charges that have been applied to the students account. This amount is multiplied by the percentage of aid earned. This is the amount of unearned institutional charges.
  • The school reviews the amount of unearned aid versus the amount of unearned institutional charges, which is typically done within 30 days from the date the school determined the student withdrew (officially and unofficially). The lesser of the numbers is the amount of aid that is returned. The school has 45 days from the date the school determined the student withdrew (officially and unofficially) to return this amount. The least desirable aid is returned first, in ascending order of desirability as follows:
  1. Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
  2. Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
  3. Federal Direct PLUS Loan
  4. Federal Pell Grant
  5. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
  6. Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant
  7. Other Federal, State, Private, or Institutional Aid

If a student did not receive all of the funds earned, the student may be eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement. If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, the school is required to get the student’s permission before these can be disbursed.  The student may decide to decline some or all of the loan funds so additional debt is not incurred. The school may use all or a portion of the post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and room and meal plan charges. The school is required to get the student’s permission for any post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges. If the student does not give permission, the student will be offered the grant funds. Please note, there are some Title IV funds that may be scheduled to be received and cannot be disbursed to the student after withdrawal because of other eligibility requirements. You will not be allowed to register at UWSP with a past due balance. Please contact the Student Financial Services office for inquiries about your past due balance.

The federal refund formula is rather complex. If you need to withdraw from all of your classes, you are encouraged to speak to a financial aid advisor before doing so to determine how it may affect your financial aid and your Satisfactory Academic Progress.

Worksheets used to calculate the amount of “return of Title IV funds” are available upon request.