2010-11 Education Loan Information and Direct Loan Master Promissory Notes Online:
Beginning with the summer 2010, PCOM will participate in the federal Direct Loan program for all federal student loans. Direct Lending offers a guaranteed source for educational loan funds. The program allows students to apply directly to the Department of Education for Stafford, Graduate PLUS, or consolidation loans, thereby simplifying the loan process. Direct Lending provides a permanent, stable lending source, more timely and accurate disbursement of funds, and single centralized unit responsible for processing all types of federal loans.
Benefits of the Direct Loan program to students include a lower interest rate of 7.9 percent for Graduate PLUS loans compared to the FFEL Graduate PLUS at 8.5 percent. Additionally, the program offers a fee rebate at the time Stafford loans are disbursed. This up front rebate makes more funds available to the borrower to cover educational costs. There is a requirement to keep the rebate of 12 on-time payments when the borrower enters repayment.
Until now PCOM has participated in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), in which private lenders, such as banks, offered federal loans to student borrowers. Recent economic changes have forced many lenders to exit the FFELP program. Those remaining can no longer offer the cost reduction benefits to borrowers that they once provided. It was the institution’s concern that in the past two years over 80 percent of our students have needed to change lenders in order to obtain federal loans, that led to the switch to the Direct Loan program.
PCOM is committed to providing the best service, information, and payment options available to our students. Participating in the federal Direct Loan program will provide a simple, stable, state of the art system to support our students and staff in achieving that goal.
Click here to complete your online federal Direct loan Master Promissory Note and/or the federal Direct Graduate PLUS loan Master Promissory Note. You will need your Department of Education PIN; your driver's license information and the names, addresses and phone numbers of two references. The Department of Education will notify the Financial Aid Office of all PCOM students who have successfully completed the MPN.
Entrance Counseling: In addition to completing the Direct Loan MPN(s), all new borrowers to the Stafford and/or Graduate PLUS loan programs must complete Entrance Counseling for 2010-11. As with the MPN, the Department of Education will notify the Financial Aid Office of all students who have successfully completed the counseling. The online Entrance Counseling will take 20-30 minutes to complete. Complete the combined Stafford/Graduate PLUS entrance counseling if you plan to borrow under both programs. PLEASE NOTE that at this time, students at both campuses should select their results to be sent to "Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Phila, PA".
Private Educational Loan Resources
For your convenience, PCOM has developed a Private Lender List to assist you in choosing a lender. This list contains lender information for those lenders recommended by the school after a review of their application process, terms, reliability, and service. Many students borrow private education loans in addition to, or in place of, federal Direct Loan programs. These funds can be used to cover the cost of any educationally related expenses.
Students can access information to compare loans online at FASTCHOICE. Here you can check eligibility requirements, interest rates, loan limits, terms and conditions, and borrower benefits. Please note that you are free to borrow from any lender. If you select a lender that is not on the PCOM Private Lender List, please inform the Financial Aid Office of the name of the lender and preferably, the lender code. You may also mail or fax a copy of the MPN to the Financial Aid Office.
