Types of Student Loans

A student seeking a loan under the Federal Direct Loan program must first complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine student eligibility. After completing the FAFSA the student must complete a Direct Loan request Form, which can be found under the Student Services Center tab on CUNYfirst. First time borrowers must complete Entrance Counseling and the Master Promissory Note (MPN)

Instructions on How to Apply for a Direct Loan at QCC:

A Federal Direct Loan is a loan available for undergraduate students enrolled for at least 6 credits each semester. For loans first disbursed on or after 7/1/24 and before 7/1/25, the interest rate is 6.53%. 

If you are a first time borrower at QCC you must:

• Go to www.studentaid.gov
• Log in using your FSA ID and Password 
• Complete Entrance Counseling & Master Promissory Note 

*Please note you must complete both Entrance Counseling and Master Promissory on www.studentaid.gov before the loan can be successfully processed.

All Students  - Apply for a Direct Loan on CUNYfirst

• Log into your CUNYfirst account 
• Go to the ”Student Center" 
• Click on the Financial Aid Tile
• On the left navigation under “Awards” you will find the Direct Loan Processing Form
• Review and Agree to the Loan Request Instructions  
• Institution: QCC01 Aid Year: 2025
• Check either “subsidized and unsubsidized” or “Subsidized Only”  
• Place a whole round number as your desired loan amount (do not enter cents)
• Indicate the number of your credits you will be enrolled for in each semester that you are requesting a loan for 
• Answer the “I am Graduating” question
• Click “Next”,  review and submit

***Please note all loan requests are processed for the Fall/Spring semesters. The amount you indicate will be divided equally between the 2 semesters unless you are graduating at the end of the Fall semester. 

Note: You may only use the Direct Loan Processing Form in CUNYfirst once during the same academic year. If you wish to increase your loan in the same academic year, you must contact the Office of Financial Services via email or phone:  financialaid@qcc.cuny.edu  (718) 631-6367

This program provides low-interest loans totaling up to $31,000 for “Dependent” students and $57,000 for “Independent” students to cover undergraduate work. An eligible Queensborough student who is enrolled at least halftime (six credits and/equated credits) may borrow up to a total of $3,500 for the freshman year and up to a total of $4,500 for the sophomore year. The amount of the loan will be determined by the student's Expected Family Contribution (EFC). No payments are required while the student is in school. Repayments begins six months after the student graduates, withdraws, or falls below half-time (6 credits).

There are two types of Federal Direct Loans

Exit counseling is required for all federal loan borrowers, and must be completed each time you, graduate, leave school or drop below half-time enrollment. ​The purpose of exit counseling is to ensure you understand your rights and responsibilities as a borrower. To complete exit counseling, go to http://www.studentaid.gov,​ select "Manage Loans" from the top menu bar, and then choose "Complete Exit Counseling". Exit counseling typically takes 20 to 30 minutes to complete.

If you are a dependent student and your parents wish to request a Federal Direct PLUS Loan, they must follow these steps:

1. Parent borrower must login to StudentLoans.gov, using their FSA ID (the same FSA ID that was used to sign the student's FAFSA), and request that the U.S. Department of Education obtain a PLUS Credit Check. If the borrower does not already have a FSA ID or has forgotten it, a new one may be obtained by following the link to the FSA ID site. Results of the credit check will be available instantly.

2. If the credit is approved, the Federal Direct PLUS Loan Electronic Master Promissory Note (e-MPN) must be completed if one was not completed previously.

3. A Federal PLUS Loan Request Form must be completed by the parent borrower & submitted to the Office of Financial Services along with the results of the credit check from www.studentaid.gov.

4. Interest rates for Direct PLUS Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2021, and before July 1, 2022 is 6.28%

Your loan servicer will provide information about repayment and will notify you of the date loan repayment begins. It is very important that you make your full loan payment on time either monthly (which is usually when you'll pay) or according to your repayment schedule. If you don't, you could end up in default, which has serious consequences. Student loans are real loans—just as real as car loans or mortgages. You have to pay back your student loans.

Loan Repayment

 Repayment begins six months after you graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment. There are several repayment, deferment, cancellation and consolidation options. If you have several types of federal loans, you may be eligible to consolidate these loans into one payment. You will be billed by your loan servicer. To find your loan servicer and monitor your loan borrowing go to https://studentaid.gov/h/manage-loans  and login with your Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID). Contact your loan servicer for help with any repayment questions.

Under certain circumstances you can receive periods of deferment or forbearance that allow you to temporarily postpone or reduce your federal student loan repayment. You'll need to work with your loan servicer to apply for deferment or forbearance and be sure to keep making payments on your loan until the deferment or forbearance is in place.

These periods don't count toward the length of time you have to repay your loan. Interest may not accrue on subsidized direct loans during a deferment period, but you are responsible for paying the interest that accrues during deferment on an unsubsidized loan.

Most deferments are not automatic, and you will likely need to submit a request to your loan servicer, the organization that handles your loan account. If you are enrolled in school at least half-time and you would like to request an in-school deferment, you'll need to contact your school's financial aid office as well as your loan servicer.
Your deferment request should be submitted to the organization to which you make your loan payments.

• Direct Loans and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans: contact your loan servicer
• Perkins Loans: contact the school you were attending when you received the loan

A cancellation or discharge releases you from all obligations to repay the loan. If you think you qualify for a discharge you must apply to the holder of your loan.

Qualifications for a Cancellation (Discharge) of a Loan

Examples are:

• Death
• Total permanent disability
• Your loan might be discharged for working in a designated low-income school
• Other cancellations are loan specific

Your loan cannot be cancelled because:

• You did not complete the study at your school (unless you couldn't complete the program for a valid reason – because the school closed for example)
• You didn't like the school or program of study
• You didn't obtain employment afterwards

More information on Cancellation and Discharge

Federal regulations require QCC to prorate Federal Direct Loans when a student is enrolled in a program that is one academic year or more in length, but the student is in a remaining period of study that is shorter than the full academic year. This will mostly affect students that will graduate from their program of study at the end of the summer or fall semesters.

Loan Proration Formula: Number of credit hours divided by the number of credit hours in an academic year (24) multiplied by the annual Federal Direct Loan limit for the student's grade level.

Examples:

(12 ÷ 24) x 4500 = $2,250

(12 ÷ 24) x 2000 = $1,000

*Subsidized and unsubsidized loans are calculated separately in order to determine the maximum for each loan.