Five Steps to Receive a Federal Stafford / Ford Direct Loan:

1) File a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

2) If you are a first-time Stafford / Ford Direct Loan borrower at Wake Forest University, visit StudentLoans.gov to complete an entrance loan counseling session. Your loan cannot be processed until you have completed entrance loan counseling.

3) All students who are borrowing a Stafford / Ford Direct Loan from the U.S. Department of Education for the first time must sign a new master promissory note. (This includes students who have previously signed a promissory note with any lender other than the U.S. Department of Education.) This promissory note remains in effect throughout the student's undergraduate years. To sign a promissory note with the U.S. Department of Education, visit StudentLoans.gov

To view the StudentLoans.gov web site effectively, you will need one of the following supported browsers from either Microsoft or Mozilla.

For Windows:
Get MS Internet Explorer
Get Firefox

For Apple Macintosh:
Get MS Internet Explorer
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If you are using a browser that is not supported, your view and interaction with this site may be significantly impaired.

4) Receive notification from Wake Forest that the loan has been credited to your account.

5) Complete an exit loan counseling session prior to leaving Wake Forest (withdrawal, transfer, graduation, or dropping below half-time attendance.)

Online exit loan counseling is required of all borrowers of Stafford / Ford Direct Loans, and is available on-line at this site: www.nslds.ed.gov

This web tool may be helpful in determining what your loan payments will be: Loan Repayment Calculator

Additional Information:

Financial Aid Transcripts: Financial aid transcript information is collected electronically from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) and sent to Wake Forest via the Student Aid Report. If you attend or attended another school after the spring 2003 semester, we may request that your previous school submit a current financial aid transcript to Wake Forest. Financial aid transcript information is required before any federal aid funds can be disbursed.

IMPORTANT NEWS! Loss of in-school interest subsidy and repayment benefits beginning in 2012-13:

The Budget Control Act of 2011 changed some aspects of student loans for graduate students. These changes WILL NOT affect the amount of loan funding available. However, graduate loan funding will become more expensive. Here are the key provisions affecting future federal graduate loans:

1. The first change is beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year. This will not affect Stafford loans for the upcoming 2011-2012 academic year. Beginning July 1, 2012, all graduate students will lose the interest subsidy on the Subsidized Stafford loan. The graduate Stafford loan program will become entirely unsubsidized, which means the loan will accrue interest while a student is in school. The maximum amount a student can borrow will remain at $20,500 per academic year.

2. The second change is the loss of the “origination fee rebate” on federal Stafford and Grad PLUS loans. Currently, there is a 1% origination fee on a Stafford and a 4% fee on a Graduate PLUS loan, but a portion of the fee, .5% for a Stafford and 1.5% for a Grad PLUS, is rebated at the time of disbursement. Beginning July 1, 2012, the full fee will be charged.

3. The last change is the loss of the .25% interest rate reduction if you pay your loans electronically while in repayment.

In closing, please note these changes will go into effect for loans borrowed for the 2012-13 academic year beginning July 1, 2012. For additional information, please visit the following website: NASFAA Budget Control Act Summary You may also be interested in using a federal loan repayment calculator to better understand your total loan amounts and repayment options. We recommend the following website: Finaid Loan Calculators

For more information on the FederalDirect Loan Program: William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program