We have put together a list of items to assist you with making your loan repayment. Students or graduates are welcome to schedule an individual appointment with our loan counselors to address their individual situation. You may also find the following checklist and presentation helpful.
KNOW WHAT LOANS YOU HAVE BORROWED
- The National Student Loan Database (NSLDS), www.nslds.ed.gov, is the online site where you can find a complete listing of your federal student loans for all institutions you have attended. You may start here to obtain the information required to complete your Bar Exam Application. You must contact your lender directly for loan account numbers that are required for the Bar Exam Application.
- If you have borrowed private loans, contact the lender directly for detailed loan and repayment information.
DETERMINE IF YOU NEED FUNDING FOR BAR EXAM COSTS
- If you have not exhausted all of your Federal Loan or Private Loan eligibility for the current academic year, you should request the additional funds before seeking a Bar Study Loan.
- If you pay the Bar Exam Application fee while you are still enrolled (before the semester ends in May), you may have this fee added to your cost of attendance. Please submit a request for a Budget increase, along with receipt of payment, to the Office of Financial Resource Management.
- Bar Study Loans- Bar Study Loans are private loans available to graduating students to cover the costs of bar exam expenses and living expenses while studying for the bar exam. Bar Study Loans require credit approval and specific eligibility criteria established by each lender. For additional details, please stop by the Office of Financial Resource Management.
COMPLETE STUDENT LOAN EXIT COUNSELING
Student Loan Exit Counseling is required for any student who has borrowed a Federal Stafford, Graduate Plus or a Perkins Loan. Exit Counseling discusses your rights and responsibilities, and will provide a loan summary as well as estimated repayment information.
- Stafford and Graduate Plus: Complete Student Loan Exit Counseling by logging into NSLDS. You may complete a combined Stafford and Graduate Plus Loan Exit Counseling.
- Perkins: Complete Perkins Loan Exit Counseling through the University website: http://www.shu.edu/offices/financial-aid-loans.cfm , then click on Perkins Exit Counseling.
FEDERAL LOAN REPAYMENT OPTIONS
Understanding your repayment options may help you to estimate your projected monthly payments while in repayment. Federal Stafford and Federal Grad PLUS loans offer the following repayment plan options:
- Standard Repayment provides fixed monthly payments for a period of time not to exceed 10 years. It will cost you approximately $115/month for every $10,000 you owe, assuming the interest rate is 6.8%, the repayment term is ten years, and you are making equal monthly payments.
- Graduated Repayment begins with lower payment amounts that increase over time. This allows payments to be smaller in the beginning of repayment with periodic increases during the repayment period.
- Extended Repayment is available to borrowers whose first loan was disbursed on or after October 7, 1998. If you have a federal student loan balance totaling more than $30,000, you may request that your repayment term is extended for a period not greater than 25 years. With this option, your payment amounts can be either fixed or graduated.
- Income-Based Repayment (IBR) is available after July 1, 2009 to borrowers experiencing economic hardship. Income-based repayment caps monthly payments at 15% of your monthly discretionary income, where discretionary income is the difference between adjusted gross income (AGI) and 150% of the federal poverty line that corresponds to your family size and the state in which you reside. There is no minimum monthly payment.
While extending your repayment term to lower your monthly payment might sound appealing, remember that the longer you take to repay your loans the more you will pay in interest over the life of the loan. If you must lower the payments at the beginning of your repayment, try to position yourself to be able to begin making larger payments as soon as possible. Remember, you may prepay all or part of your loan at any time without penalty. Prepayment may substantially reduce your interest costs.
- The Income Contingent Repayment plan allows your monthly payments to be calculated on the basis of your adjusted gross income, family size, and the total amount of your Direct Loans. The maximum repayment period is 25 years. Under the ICR plan you will pay each month the lesser of: The amount you would pay if you repaid your loan in 12 years multiplied by an income percentage factor that varies with your annual income, or 20 percent of your monthly discretionary income.
If your payments are not large enough to cover the interest that has accumulated on your loans, the unpaid amount will be capitalized once each year. However, capitalization will not exceed 10 percent of the original amount you owed when you entered repayment. Interest will continue to accumulate but will no longer be capitalized (added to the loan principal).
If you haven't fully repaid your loans after 25 years (time spent in deferment or forbearance does not count) under this plan, the unpaid portion will be discharged. You may, however, have to pay taxes on the amount that is discharged.
LOAN CONSOLIDATION
Federal Student Loan Consolidation allows you to combine multiple federal student loans into one loan, resulting in a single monthly payment. Borrowers should carefully compare all repayment options to determine if loan consolidation is right for them.
- While loan consolidation can simplify loan repayment and lower your monthly payment, it also can significantly increase the total cost of repaying your loans.
- Please note that borrowers, who have loans from the FFEL Program (private lenders) and intend to apply for loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, must consolidate into the Direct Loan program. For more information, contact the Department of Education (http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov)
The interest rate for a consolidation loan is based on the weighted average interest rate of the loans being consolidated, rounded to the next nearest higher one-eighth of one percent and cannot exceed 8.25 percent. For this reason, consolidation may not be right for you if you only have loans with fixed interest rates.
FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS
If you are a graduate who is planning to take advantage of the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, please click here.
AVERAGE LOAN INDEBTEDNESS
The average amount borrowed in law school by Seton Hall Law 2010-11 J.D. graduates who borrowed at least one educational loan in law school is $113,000. The percentage of 2010-11 J.D. graduates who borrowed at least one educational loan in law school: 83%.