Student Loans

Student Financial Services   |   Contacts   |   Forms & Deadlines

A low-interest educational student loan or combination of student loans is included in most financial aid packages. The packaged loan amount increases approximately $1000-$2,000 each year, because the College believes students - as the chief beneficiary of their education - should assume increasingly greater responsibility for the cost of Mount Holyoke. Total estimated student loan debt over four years will range from approximately $19,000 to $25,000 depending on eligibility and whether or not a student borrows to her maximum capability per federal and institutional guidelines.

Student Financial Services recommends that dependent students seeking additional loans maximize their eligibility for subsidized/unsubsidized Federal Direct Student Loan (FDSL) before applying for alternative loans.

• The Subsidized FDSL Interest Rate is fixed at 6.00% for loans disbursed from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009 (Unsubsidized FDSL's will remain at 6.80%).
• Recently passed legislation (Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008) has increased the maximum annual loan limits for all students by providing a $2,000 Unsubsidized Student Loan as of July 1, 2008. 

Students who wish to utilize any additional subsidized or unsubsidized student loan funds must must complete an Additional Federal Direct Student Loan Request and return it to Student Financial Services.

If you have a student loan in your financial aid package the links to the left will provide information for each loan, including the requirements for completing promissory notes and entrance counseling.

All student loan borrowers are required by federal regulation and College policy to complete entrance counseling prior to borrowing a loan for the first time and exit counseling when they separate (withdrawal, graduation, less than half-time enrollment, etc.).  Exit counseling informs students of the total amount borrowed, when repayment begins, where to send payments, what happens if the student goes to graduate school, as well as collecting information that will assist students through the repayment period.

Loan funds are disbursed ten (10) days prior to the semester start date if all necessary loan paperwork is complete.