Graduating Students/Loan Repayment


Financial Aid available for Law Students

Financial Aid
[email protected] | 973-642-8502 or 973-761-9000 ext. 8502

Making Your Loan Repayment

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.

  1. LOAN CHECKLIST for Graduating Students
  2. Managing Your Student Loan Payments (Presentation - PDF)
  3. Tips For Managing Your Credit
     
Know What Loans You Have Borrowed Complete Perkins Loan Exit Counseling
Determine If You Need Funding
For Bar Exam Costs
Loan Consolidation
Complete Student Loan Exit Counseling Exit Counseling Guide for Federal Student Loan Borrowers
Federal Loan Repayment Options    

KNOW WHAT LOANS YOU HAVE BORROWED

  1. 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.
  2. 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.  
  3. 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. You may apply for a Bar Study Loan in your final year of study or up to 12 months after graduation from law school.  You must also sit for the bar exam within 12 months after graduation.  We recommend that you check your credit report (annualcreditreport.com) prior to applying to ensure that your information is accurate.  The following is an alphabetical list of lenders offering Bar Study Loans (as of Spring 2014).  Lenders are not ranked or endorsed by our office.  Students should research the terms and conditions of each loan prior to applying.

PNC Bank
pnconcampus.com
800-762-1001

Sallie Mae Bar Study Loans
salliemae.com
800-984-0190

Wells Fargo Bar Study Loans (Must have Wells Fargo account.)
wellsfargo.com
800-378-5526

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. 

  1. Stafford and Graduate Plus:  Complete Student Loan Exit Counseling by logging into Student Loans.gov.  You may complete a combined Stafford and Graduate Plus Loan Exit Counseling.
  2. Perkins:  Complete Perkins Loan Exit Counseling through the University website:  http://www.shu.edu/offices/financial-aid-loans.html , 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. Direct Stafford and Direct Grad PLUS loans offer the following repayment plan options:

  1. Standard Repayment Plan - Fixed monthly payments for up to 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.
  2. Graduated Repayment Plan - Payments are lower at first and increase, usually every two years, for up to 10 years.
  3. Extended Repayment Plan - Payments may be fixed or graduated for a period up to 25 years.  You must have a Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) balance totaling more than $30,000 for this payment option. 
  4. Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR) - Payments are based on your income for those experiencing partial financial hardship, and monthly payments will be limited to 15% of your monthly discretionary income.  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.  Any loan balance not paid after the equivalent of 25 years of payments will be forgiven.  You may have to pay income tax on any amount that is forgiven.
  5. Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Repayment Plan - Payments are also based on your income and you must be experiencing partial financial hardship.  Monthly payments are limited to 10% of discretionary income.  You must be a new borrower on or after October 1, 200 and must have received a disbursement of a Direct Loan on or after Oct. 1, 2007 to be eligible for this repayment plan.  Any loan balance not paid after the equivalent of 20 years of payments will be forgiven.  You may have to pay taxes on any amount forgiven.
  6. Income Contingent Repayment Plan -  Monthly payments are calculated on the basis of your adjusted gross income, family size, and the total amount of your Direct Loans. Your monthly payment changes as your income changes.  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% 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 (forgiven). 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.

  1. While loan consolidation can simplify loan repayment and lower your monthly payment, it also can significantly increase the total cost of repaying your loans.  
  2. 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 up to the next nearest one-eighth of one percent. For this reason, consolidation may not be right for you if you only have loans with fixed interest rates.

If you would like further information on these interest rates or other details regarding your student loans, please contact us at 973-642-8850.

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 2012-13 J.D. graduates who borrowed at least one educational loan in law school is $127,075.  The percentage of 2012-13 J.D. graduates who borrowed at least one educational loan in law school:  85%.