Private Loan FAQs

Effective February 14, 2010, the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) requires that before a private educational lender may consummate a private education loan for a student in attendance at an institution of higher education, the lender must obtain the completed and signed Borrower Self-Certification Form from the applicant. Loan funds will not be released to the school until the Private Education Loan Applicant Borrower Self-Certification Form is complete and submitted to the lender. The form requires two key elements:

• Estimated Cost of Attendance, based on residency, may be found labeled as the “Budget” on your Award Letter or can be found by visiting the Tuition and Fees section of the Student Accounts Office website.
• Estimated Financial Assistance can be found on your KSC award notification. If you need an additional copy, you may stop by our office; Elliot Center, Room 107.

If you are applying for a private loan to pay all or a portion of your bill, applications need to be completed approximately six weeks before your bill deadline to ensure sufficient processing time on both KSC’s and your lender’s end.

• Applications should not be completed before June 1st for the upcoming academic year.
• Credit approvals and loan applications often carry expiration dates. If your application is completed too early, it may expire before we are able to process it. Please be sure you are applying within an appropriate window.

Federal regulations now require additional steps to be taken during the loan application process. Students must now acknowledge three separate disclosures notices and complete a student Borrower Self-certification form with information that can be obtained from your Keene State College Award Notification Letter.

To assist you through this process, we recommend that you:

• Start the application process early at least six weeks before payment is due but not before June 1st,
• Complete and return requests from the lender in a timely manner, and
• Check the status of your loan with your lender frequently. Due to these new requirements, the time required to process your loan will be extended.

After KSC certifies your loan, your lender produces final disclosure notices and then forwards KSC notice that your loan is guaranteed. Until KSC is in receipt of that guarantee notice, the loan will not be officially deducted from your semester charges.

Disbursement dates for private loans are determined by both your private lender and KSC and may vary slightly depending on the lender you select. In general, most loans will disburse as outlined below. If you’d like specific information about your anticipated disbursement date, please contact us directly.

• Full-year loans (set up with a fall disbursement and spring disbursement) will disburse in two portions: in late September for the fall semester and in early February for the spring semester.
• One-semester loans (set up with a fall only or spring only disbursement) will disburse in two portions: the first portion at the beginning of the semester and the second after the midpoint of the semester.

The lenders you see reflected on our Suggested Lender list approve and disburse loans on an academic year basis. You must reapply for a new loan for every new academic year you return to Keene State College. Many Educational Loan Lenders process loans this way. We will not certify or process a loan for more than the cost to attend KSC for one academic year. If you have questions about accessing a line of credit to finance your costs at Keene, please contact your bank.

Each private lender has varying policies on loans for an academic year that has already ended. For lenders that do process these types of loans, the student must typically have an outstanding balance still owed for that academic year, referred to as a “past due balance.” Please contact your lender directly to inquire about their past due balance policy.