Loans

SKYCTC is now participating in the Federal Direct Loan Program. Direct Lending is when eligible students and parents borrow directly from the federal government. Direct Loans include Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans, and Direct PLUS Loans. Borrowers will repay these loans directly to the U.S. Department of Education.

To be eligible for student loans (during any semester) a student must maintain enrollment in at least 6 hours.

Subsidized Direct Stafford Loan

Subsidized loans are available to students who demonstrate financial need. The U.S. Department of Education pays the interest on a subsidized loan while the borrower is enrolled at least half-time and during the loan grace period. The amount of subsidized loan you borrow cannot exceed your financial need. Repayment begins 6 months after 1) you drop below half-time, 2) leave school, or 3) graduate, whichever happens earlier.

Unsubsidized Direct Stafford Loan

The borrower is responsible for paying the interest that accrues on an Unsubsidized loan from the time the loan is disbursed, and until the loan is paid in full. The borrower can pay the interest while in school or can allow the interest to accrue and have the interest added to the principal amount of the loan. If the borrower chooses not to pay the interest while in school, this will increase the total amount of loan that the borrower will have to repay because it will be charged interest on a higher principal amount. Repayment begins 6 months after 1) you drop below half-time, 2) leave school, or 3) graduate, whichever happens earlier.

Direct Parent PLUS Loan

PLUS loans are federal loans that parents of dependent undergraduate students can use to help pay for college or career school. PLUS loans can help pay for education expenses not covered by other financial aid.

1. Complete a Direct PLUS loan online application at www.studentloans.gov
2. Complete a Direct PLUS Loan form from the financial aid office

To borrow a loan at SKYCTC, please see Steps to Borrow a Student Loan

Please note: SKYCTC does not participate in the Federal Perkins Loan program.

ESign MPN

You will be required to sign a Master Promissory Note (MPN) prior to your loan funds disbursing to your account.

Entrance and Exit Counseling

Federal Direct Loan student borrowers are required to complete mandatory on-line entrance and exit counseling. The purpose of the counseling is to provide the student with information regarding their rights and responsibilities; the commitment that comes with the acceptance of a student loan; and to help the student understand how to manage their student loans. It is important for all borrowers to realize that student loans are not grants or scholarships; they require repayment.

You will need to have an FSA ID to access the entrance and exit counseling web sites. If you used an FSA ID to apply for federal financial aid, you will use that FSA ID to complete entrance and exit counseling.

Entrance Counseling

Online entrance counseling is required for all first-time Federal Direct Stafford loan borrowers. Entrance counseling takes approximately 20-30 minutes to complete.

The Office of Student Financial aid receives results of entrance counseling. Federal Direct Stafford loans will not disburse until entrance counseling has been completed.

Exit Counseling

All student borrowers who leave SKYCTC either by graduating, withdrawing, or failing to return for a subsequent semester are required by Federal Law to complete exit counseling on the web at studentloans.gov. Student borrowers must complete exit counseling. Exit counseling takes approximately 30-40 minutes to complete.

 

Maximum Annual Loan Limits

*Loan amounts may be reduced due to other aid awarded. Aid may not exceed Cost of Attendance.

First-Year, First-Time Borrowers

All first-year, first-time borrowers are subject to a 30-day delay before a student loan can be disbursed. You are considered a first-year, first-time borrower if you have never attended SKYCTC/KCTCS OR no transfer credit from a previous college has been processed AND you have no student loan history with NSLDS. First-year, first-time borrowers should receive all aid on the sixth Thursday after the term begins. The 30-day delay affects only the first loan disbursement. Subsequent loan refunds go out on schedule.

Loan Proration for Graduating Borrowers

Federal regulations require that when an undergraduate student is enrolled in a program that is one academic year or more in length, but is in a remaining period of study that is shorter than a full academic year, their Federal Direct Loan amount must be prorated.

Students who graduate in the Fall term or Summer Session will have their Federal Direct Loans prorated during their final semester. The loan limit proration determines the maximum loan amount that a student may borrow for the final term of study based on the degree they are earning.

It is important to notify the student financial aid office if you are graduating in the fall or summer terms. Your loans could be adjusted after disbursement which could result in a bill with the college.

Check with the Financial Aid Office for more information.

Student Loan Code of Conduct

SKYCTC has adopted this Student Loan Code of Conduct to serve as the formal guiding principles in ensuring the integrity of the student aid process and ethical conduct of employees in regard to student loan practices. The Student Loan Code of Conduct applies to all employees who work in the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships and all other College employees, including agents of the College who have responsibilities related to educational loans or other forms of student financial aid. The Student Loan Code of Conduct has been established to meet the requirements contained in the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act. Items in this Code of Conduct provide additional standards of conduct for employees with responsibility for student financial aid and do not replace any existing or future requirements imposed by State of Kentucky or KCTCS related to codes of conduct, conflict of interest policies, ethics training, or other such requirements.

The Student Loan Code of Conduct also confirms that SKYCTC does not have preferred lender arrangements of any kind or a preferred lender list

Sharing

The College and its employees will not enter into any type of revenue-sharing arrangement with any lender, guarantor or servicer.

Gifts

Employees of the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships are prohibited from soliciting or accepting any gift from a lender, guarantor, or servicer of education loans. Gifts include any gratuity, favor, discount, entertainment, hospitality, loan or other item. This includes a gift of services, transportation, lodging, or meals, whether provided in kind, by purchase of a ticket, payment in advance, or reimbursement after the expense has incurred. Gifts to family members of a College employee are considered to be a gift to the employee if the gift is given with the knowledge and consent of the employee and there is reason to believe the gift was given because of the official position of that employee.

Contracting Arrangements

Employees of the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships shall not accept from any lender or affiliate of any lender any fee, payment or other financial benefit (including opportunity to purchase stock) as compensation for any consulting arrangement or other contract to provide services to a lender or on behalf of a lender relating to education loans.

Preferred Lender Status

SKYCTC participates in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program which provides student and parent loans through the U.S. Department of Education. Lenders in the private student loan industry will not be given a preferred status. SKYCTC does not have any preferred lender arrangements that give any lender an advantage in securing business from our students. The College does not provide students a preferred lender list from which to select a lender for a private student loan. All loans are processed without regard to lender or mode of transmission (i.e., electronic or paper). SKYCTC will neither recommend a private loan lender nor accept material benefits including revenue or profit sharing to the institution, an officer, or an employee of the institution or an agent.

Private Loan Certification

The College will not assign a borrower's private student loan to a particular lender; all decisions will be made by the borrower in his/her independent review of borrower benefits and lender services. The College will not refuse to certify, or delay certification of, any loan based on the borrower's selection of a particular lender or guaranty agency.

Opportunity Pool Loan

The College will not request or accept from any lender any offer of funds to be used for private education loans (as defined in section 140 of the Truth in Lending Act), including funds for an opportunity pool loan to students in exchange for SKYCTC providing concessions or promises regarding providing the lender with (i) a specified number of federal loans made, insured or guaranteed; (ii) a specified federal loan volume; or (iii) a preferred lender arrangement for such loans.

Staffing Assistance

SKYCTC will not request or accept from any lender, guarantor, or servicer of student loans any assistance with call center staffing or financial aid office staffing.

Advisory Board Compensation

Employees of the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships who serve on an advisory board, commission or group established by a lender, guarantor or group of lenders or guarantors are prohibited from receiving anything of value from the lender, guarantor or group of lenders or guarantors, except that the employee may be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in serving on such advisory board, commission or group