Federal Student Loans

I. To receive financial aid, you must complete VUIM’s 4 step process:

Visit FAFSA and Complete the FAFSA application (VUIM school code: 042395)
Submit the VUIM FA Application form to the financial aid office (Fax: 703-323-5692, or email: [email protected])
If requested, provide any additional supporting documentation
Visit Student gov and Complete Entrance Counseling and a Master Promissory Note

II.General loan information

Eligible type of financial aid: Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
Lender: the U.S. Department of Education
Annual Loan Limits: $20,500 (per academic year = 3 quarters)
Aggregate loan limits: $138,500 (includes loans received for undergraduate study)
Interest rate: fixed, but vary each year (Interest accrues from the date of the first loan disbursement.
You may choose not to pay the interest while in school and during the grace periods, but the interest will be capitalized. You can find the interest rate on your direct loan by going to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) website at www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds)
Fee: loan origination fee, charged by law and will be deducted from disbursement amount

III. Eligibility Requirements

A new student must be admitted to VUIM before financial aid will be processed or awarded.
You must meet all of the eligibility requirements for federal financial aid (Citizenship, Selective service, etc.)
You must be making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). In order to be considered to be making SAP, you must maintain a required CGPA and a completion rate, and you must be able to complete your program within 2 times the program length.
You must be enrolled in a degree-seeking program, MAcHM, MAc, PDOM, PDAc., CCHM, or DAOM program at least half-time at every quarter to receive a Direct Unsubsidized Loan. If you plan to graduate, withdraw or drop below half-time enrollment, you will lose your eligibility, the six-month grace period begins, and, if any, scheduled disbursement will be canceled. If you drop below half-time enrollment and then resume enrollment on at least a half-time basis before the end of the six-month grace period, your loan will return to “in-school” status and you will regain a full six-month grace period when you leave school or drop below half-time enrollment again.
A student who wants to withdraw from VUIM or from all courses he/she enrolled during a quarter is required to notify the financial aid office in advance and may be required to repay all or a portion of the funds awarded/disbursed for the quarter toVUIM and/or to ED.
The Financial Aid Office reserves the right to review, revise, or cancel an award at any time due to a change in a financial aid student’s academic standing, academic program, or other financial aid awards in accordance with applicable regulation and/or institutional policies.

IV. Disbursement of financial aid & late fees

Your award is divided into three equal payments, one-third of the award amount for each quarter, and will be disbursed on a school account after subtracting the origination fee
If you wish to cancel or reduce your loan amount, you have to communicate your desire with the financial aid office in writing at least one week before the anticipated disbursement date.
Your financial aid is credited to your student account after the last day of the add/drop period. Your aid is first used to cover any charges you owe VUIM and if there are any funds remaining, it will be released to you by check. This may take up to 14 days after the disbursement date.
If you cease to be enrolled, drop below half-time, or graduate, all loan funds for future disbursements will be canceled and you may be required to repay your aid.
If you don’t complete the 4 step process above, VUIM may charge a late fee according to school policy.

V. Borrower’s Rights and responsibilities

You may cancel a loan or request adjustment of your loan amount by contacting the financial aid office, or by refusing to accept or returning all or a portion of a loan disbursement that is made to you.
You have the right to prepay your loan in whole or in part anytime without an early repayment penalty and deferment or forbearance of repayment for certain defined periods, if you qualify and if you request it.
You are responsible for notifying your loan servicer and school if you change your address, telephone number, name, Social Security Number.
You are responsible for completing exit counseling before you leave school or drop below half-time enrollment.
You should make monthly payments on your loan after your grace period ends unless you have a deferment or forbearance.

VI. Loan repayment

Direct Loans are eligible for a six-month grace period that generally begins on the day after you graduate, lease school, or drop below half-time enrollment. So you have to begin making payments after the end of six months grace period. You should repay your loan according to a repayment plan that you choose through your loan servicer. The repayment plan you choose determines the amount you pay each month and the number of payments you must make.
Your loan servicer will help you with repayment plans, loan consolidation, and every other task related to your loan. (A loan Servicer is a company that collects payments on loans, responds to customer service inquiries, and performs other administrative tasks.) You can identify the servicer for your loan by going to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) website at www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds
You are required to provide your current contact information to your loan servicer. You must make payments on your federal student loan even if you do not receive a bill or repayment notice.
You can get estimates of your monthly payments for each repayment plan. Use your FSA ID to login to the Repayment Estimator at https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/repaymentEstimator.action

* A sample repayment schedule via the Standard Repayment Plan:

Loan Amount	Interest Rate	Repayment Period	Monthly Payment	Total Amount Paid
$20,500	6%	120 months	$228	$27,311

Exit counseling provides important information you will need as you prepare to repay your Federal loan(s). So student borrowers of Federal loans who are graduating, leaving school, or dropping below half-time enrollment are required to complete exit counseling by law.

Eligibility

You must meet all of the eligibility criteria for federal financial aid

Citizenship

In order to qualify for Federal Financial Aid, a student must be a US citizen, permanent resident, or eligible non-citizen. For additional information, please visit https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/eligibility/non-us-citizens

Selective Service Registration

All men must register with Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday (or before age 26, if entering and taking up residence in the U.S. when already older than 18). Selective Service can accept a late registration but not after a man has reached his 26^th birthday.

Exception: non-immigrants on student, visitor, tourist, or diplomatic visas.

A non-registrant who are now 26 or older has to submit acceptable documents depending on the first date of Entry to the U.S. Please visit https://www.sss.gov/Home/Men-26-and-OLDER for details

Enrollment

You must be enrolled in a degree-seeking program at VUIM – MAcHM, MAc, PDAc., PDOM, CCHM, or DAOM before aid will be processed or awarded.

You must be registering at least half-time every quarter. You are responsible for ensuring the courses they are enrolled in are applicable to their program of study. Enrolling in courses that do not apply to a student’s degree program may result in the loss of financial aid funds.

Masters programs

Credit hours	Enrollment Status
12 or more	Full-time
9-11	Three-quarter time
6-8	Half-time
1-5	Less than half-time

Doctoral Programs

Credit hours	Enrollment Status
6 or more	Full-time
4-5	Three-quarter time
3	Half-time
1-3	Less than half-time

If you plan to graduate, withdraw or drop below half-time attendance (even if you plan to transfer to another school), you must complete online exit counseling for your loan which will go into repayment six months after you are less than half time. You agreed when you signed your MPN to contact your lender if you withdraw or drop to less than half-time.

Students who withdraw during the term are required to notify the financial aid office and may be required to repay all or a portion of the funds awarded for the term

Satisfactory Academic Progress

The academic progress of all students is reviewed at the end of each quarter. After the review, students who do not meet the minimum SAP requirements will be ineligible for financial aid. See the policy below for more information.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

Academics

Admissions