An official document, issued by the financial aid office, that lists all the financial aid awarded to the student. This letter generally provides the expected family contribution, cost of [..]

The process of adding unpaid interest to the principal balance of an educational loan, increasing the size of the loan that must be repaid.

A loan program that allows a borrower to combine several educational loans into one new loan. This process extends the repayment period and allows for a single monthly payment.  This simpl [..]

The total cost of an education - usually expressed as a yearly figure. COA includes tuition and fees, room and board, an allowance for books and supplies, transportation, and miscellaneous [..]

Failure to repay a student loan according to the terms of a promissory note signed by the student. The organization that holds the loan (the state or the federal government) can take actio [..]

This is an authorized period of time during which a borrower may postpone principal and interest payments.  Deferments are available to borrowers who are in school at least half time, enro [..]

For financial aid purposes, an undergraduate student is usually classified as a dependent and is expected to have access to parental financial resources if he/she is not married, does not [..]

This is the federal aid application that must be completed by students who want to be considered for federal need-based financial aid.

Under this program education loans are made available directly from the U.S. government.  Participating schools serve as agents for subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford Loans and Parent PL [..]

The total financial aid a student receives to meet educational expenses is called the "financial aid package."  It may include federal, state and private aid such as grants, loan [..]