Loan Type
|
Student Grade Level
|
Index Rate
|
Add-On
|
2013-2014 Fixed Interest
Rate
|
Interest Rate Cap
|
10-Year Treasury Note
Index
|
|||||
Direct Subsidized
Loans
|
Undergraduate Students
|
1.81%
|
2.05%
|
3.86%
|
8.25%
|
Direct Unsubsidized
Loans
|
Undergraduate Students
|
1.81%
|
2.05%
|
3.86%
|
8.25%
|
Direct Unsubsidized
Loans
|
Graduate/Professional
Students
|
1.81%
|
3.60%
|
5.41%
|
9.50%
|
Direct PLUS Loans
|
Parents of Dependent
Undergraduate Students and Graduate/Professional Students
|
1.81%
|
4.60%
|
6.41%
|
10.50%
|
Direct Consolidation
Loans
|
N/A
|
Interest rate remains the weighted average of the
interest rates of the loans included in the consolidation, rounded up to the
next higher one-eighth of one percent.
New law removes the 8.25% cap.
|
|||
Friday, August 16, 2013
Student Loan Interest Rates - Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013
The following table applies to all loans disbursed on or after 7/1/13 and before 7/1/14 as well as consolidation applications received on or after 7/1/13.
New Student Loan Deal Good, And Bad, For Borrowers
President Barack Obama is expected to sign new student loan legislation this
week, making market-based interest rates the law of the land for federal student
loans and immediately lowering rates for borrowers," according to U.S. News & World Report. "While the compromise reversed the interest rate hike on subsidized
loans, which jumped from 3.4 to 6.8 percent on July 1, experts say the deal is a
mixed bag for students. Here is a rundown of the benefits and drawbacks of the
new student loan legislation.
The Good:
• Stability: Prior tweaks to student loan interest rates were temporary and agreements to extend or reauthorize the adjustments often led to political showdowns. 'The past couple of years we've been in these situations where students haven't known up until the last minute what their interest rate was going to be, because we were waiting for Congress to act,' says Megan McClean, director of policy and federal relations at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
• Universal: Last year Congress extended an interest rate reduction, but only for subsidized Stafford loans, which are issued to students with financial need. The new market-based plan lowers rates for all federal loans, which stood at 6.8 percent for unsubsidized Stafford loans and 7.9 percent for PLUS loans. Any student enrolled at least half-time in a degree-granting program is eligible for unsubsidized loans, and PLUS loans are available to parents, graduate students and those pursuing a professional degree. 'This is a deal that benefits all borrowers,' says McClean, who points out that 80 percent of students who take out subsidized loans also borrow unsubsidized funds.
The Bad
• Fluctuation: Market-based interest rates are not static. As the economy improves, they will rise, and experts predict that will happen quickly.
The Good:
• Stability: Prior tweaks to student loan interest rates were temporary and agreements to extend or reauthorize the adjustments often led to political showdowns. 'The past couple of years we've been in these situations where students haven't known up until the last minute what their interest rate was going to be, because we were waiting for Congress to act,' says Megan McClean, director of policy and federal relations at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
• Universal: Last year Congress extended an interest rate reduction, but only for subsidized Stafford loans, which are issued to students with financial need. The new market-based plan lowers rates for all federal loans, which stood at 6.8 percent for unsubsidized Stafford loans and 7.9 percent for PLUS loans. Any student enrolled at least half-time in a degree-granting program is eligible for unsubsidized loans, and PLUS loans are available to parents, graduate students and those pursuing a professional degree. 'This is a deal that benefits all borrowers,' says McClean, who points out that 80 percent of students who take out subsidized loans also borrow unsubsidized funds.
The Bad
• Fluctuation: Market-based interest rates are not static. As the economy improves, they will rise, and experts predict that will happen quickly.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Senate passes Student Loan Interest Rate Bill
Attention students! Important information regarding your student loans! It has been all over the news how interest rates doubled this past July 1st. from 3.4% to 6.8%. Now there is some good news in the works...
A bill has been passed by the Senate, which would be retroactively effective July 1, 2013, establishing student loan interest rates equal to the 10-year Treasury bill rate plus 2.05% for subsidized and unsubsidized loans and 4.6% for PLUS loans. The resulting interest rates for loans taken out this year, after July 1, 2013, would be 3.86% percent for subsidized and unsubsidized loans for undergraduate students and 6.41% on PLUS loans for parents and graduate students. Additionally, this bill imposes a cap to ensure interest rates never exceed 8.25% for undergraduate students and 10.5% for PLUS borrowers. Loans would be “variable-fixed,” meaning students would receive a new rate with each new loan, but then that rate would be fixed for the life of the loan. Students with outstanding loans will keep the same interest rates; only loans taken out after July 1, 2013 will take on the new rates.
The bill will still undergo congressional vote but is expected to pass. As we know how important these issues are for our students, there will be more updates from Berkeley College to follow!
A bill has been passed by the Senate, which would be retroactively effective July 1, 2013, establishing student loan interest rates equal to the 10-year Treasury bill rate plus 2.05% for subsidized and unsubsidized loans and 4.6% for PLUS loans. The resulting interest rates for loans taken out this year, after July 1, 2013, would be 3.86% percent for subsidized and unsubsidized loans for undergraduate students and 6.41% on PLUS loans for parents and graduate students. Additionally, this bill imposes a cap to ensure interest rates never exceed 8.25% for undergraduate students and 10.5% for PLUS borrowers. Loans would be “variable-fixed,” meaning students would receive a new rate with each new loan, but then that rate would be fixed for the life of the loan. Students with outstanding loans will keep the same interest rates; only loans taken out after July 1, 2013 will take on the new rates.
The bill will still undergo congressional vote but is expected to pass. As we know how important these issues are for our students, there will be more updates from Berkeley College to follow!
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
FAFSA FAQs
Who needs to file the FAFSA?
All
students who wish to receive federal or state Financial Aid for the
academic year beginning July 1, 2013 and ending June 30, 2014 MUST submit a FAFSA (Free Applications for Federal Student Aid).
When is the deadline?
Berkeley College’s deadline to complete your FAFSA is May 1, 2013.
What do I need?
- Your FAFSA pin from http://pin.ed.gov. If you are a dependent student, your parents will also need their FAFSA pin.
- Your Social Security Number
- Your Driver's License
- If you are not a U.S. Citizen, your alien registration or permanent resident card (green card)
- Your (and your spouse's, if you are married) 2012 Federal Tax Return. If you are a dependent student, you will also need your parents' 2012 Federal Tax Return. (Note: We highly recommend that you e-file your tax returns)
- Your (and your spouse's, if you are married) 2012 untaxed income records. If you are a dependent student, you will also need your parents' 2012 untaxed income records.
- Asset information which includes values of :
-
- Cash savings and checking accounts
- Properties
- Businesses
- Retirement accounts
How do I complete my FAFSA?
- Before
you begin the process, make sure that you (and your parents, if you are
a dependent student) have a valid FAFSA PIN. You can go online at http://pin.ed.gov to check the status of your PIN. If you have forgotten your PIN, you may request a duplicate PIN here.
- Once you have your PIN (and your parents' if you are a dependent student), visit http://fafsa.ed.gov and click on Start A New FAFSA.
- Enter the requested personal information and continue.
- Note: If you are a continuing student, we highly recommend that you select Start a Renewal FAFSA.
This will prefill most of the information on your new FAFSA based on
last year's information. Please review all information for updates
and/or changes.
- Note: If you are a continuing student, we highly recommend that you select Start a Renewal FAFSA.
This will prefill most of the information on your new FAFSA based on
last year's information. Please review all information for updates
and/or changes.
- Remember to enter Berkeley College's school code in the appropriate section:
- New Jersey: 007502
- New York: 008556
- On
the financial portion of the FAFSA, we highly recommend that you make
use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. Please note that the feature is not
immediately available. Please refer to the IRS Data Retrieval Timeline
at the Appendix of this document. This feature will prefill some of your
Financial Aid information based on your Federal Tax Return. Another
benefit is that if you are selected for verification, you will no longer
need to supply tax return information. This speeds up your award
processing.
- If you are unable to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, you may input the information from your Federal Tax Return. However, please note that if you are selected for Federal Verification, your award processing will be put on hold until you either:
- Log back in and use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool or
- Request an IRS Tax Return Transcript and submit it to the Financial Aid Office
- Important: You will only be able to access this on the confirmation page. Once you reach the confirmation page of the FAFSA application, make sure that you click on the link to complete your State Grant application. You can find this under “Optional Feature – Start your state application” by clicking on the word here.
Need Help?
- Reach out to and or visit your location's Financial Aid Department.
- Watch Berkeley College's FATV Video on completing your FAFSA.
- You may also access FAFSA on the Web's Help
Page here.
Appendix
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
IRS Data Retrieval Tool
What is it?
The Data Retrieval Tool is a feature in the FAFSA that allows you to transfer your income information directly from the IRS onto your FAFSA.
Why should I use Data Retrieval Tool?
The Data Retrieval Tool will save you time in completing your FAFSA. Not only do the figures on your tax return carry over automatically but they are also guaranteed to be accurate. If the Department of Education chooses your file for verification (a time-consuming, paperwork-heavy process), you should no longer need to send your tax return information. The Data Retrieval Tool will save you time when doing the FAFSA and even after!
What do I need to use the Data Retrieval Tool?
You will need to have filed your tax returns with the IRS in order to use Data Retrieval. It does take some time before the information is available. This amount of time varies depending on whether you filed electronically or paper and whether you had a balance due or not. Filing electronically and paying any balance due in full will allow you to use the Data Retrieval Tool sooner. Because of this, we highly recommend that you electronically file your return (for other reasons why you should e-file, check our previous blog post). Should you owe a balance, we also highly recommend that you remit full payment as soon as you can.
When would my information be available?
If you chose the fastest option of electronically filing your return and paying the balance due with it (if any), then your information will be available within 2 to 3 weeks after the IRS accepts your return. The second best option is to electronically file your return and remitting a full payment for the balance due after. Your return will be available within 3 to 4 weeks after the IRS receives your payment.
If you opt for electronic filing but will not be making a full payment of the balance due, your return will not be processed until May. Your return will be available 2 to 3 weeks after they process your return in May.
If you choose to file by paper (NOT recommended) and have no balance due, you will have to wait 8 to 11 weeks before your tax information is available for retrieval. If you paper file and had a balance due, regardless of any payments made, you will have to wait until JUNE (!) before the IRS processes your return. Your information then becomes available 2 to 3 weeks from June.
What if I do my FAFSA before my information is available?
We highly recommend you do your FAFSA as soon as you can using the Data Retrieval process. If, based on the above, you don't expect the Data Retrieval Process to be accessible in the near future, we recommend that you file the FAFSA without it and then use the Data Retrieval in FAFSA correction mode at a later date.
If you do not make a FAFSA correction, you will have to request a tax transcript. The tax transcript is available for request at the same time the Data Retrieval Tool is available (see question above 'When would my information be available?' for more details). However, requesting a tax transcript online or by phone will take 5-10 business days while requesting by mail will take up to 30 days.
Who should I contact for other questions?
Please contact your location's Financial Aid Office.
The Data Retrieval Tool is a feature in the FAFSA that allows you to transfer your income information directly from the IRS onto your FAFSA.
Why should I use Data Retrieval Tool?
The Data Retrieval Tool will save you time in completing your FAFSA. Not only do the figures on your tax return carry over automatically but they are also guaranteed to be accurate. If the Department of Education chooses your file for verification (a time-consuming, paperwork-heavy process), you should no longer need to send your tax return information. The Data Retrieval Tool will save you time when doing the FAFSA and even after!
What do I need to use the Data Retrieval Tool?
You will need to have filed your tax returns with the IRS in order to use Data Retrieval. It does take some time before the information is available. This amount of time varies depending on whether you filed electronically or paper and whether you had a balance due or not. Filing electronically and paying any balance due in full will allow you to use the Data Retrieval Tool sooner. Because of this, we highly recommend that you electronically file your return (for other reasons why you should e-file, check our previous blog post). Should you owe a balance, we also highly recommend that you remit full payment as soon as you can.
When would my information be available?
If you chose the fastest option of electronically filing your return and paying the balance due with it (if any), then your information will be available within 2 to 3 weeks after the IRS accepts your return. The second best option is to electronically file your return and remitting a full payment for the balance due after. Your return will be available within 3 to 4 weeks after the IRS receives your payment.
If you opt for electronic filing but will not be making a full payment of the balance due, your return will not be processed until May. Your return will be available 2 to 3 weeks after they process your return in May.
If you choose to file by paper (NOT recommended) and have no balance due, you will have to wait 8 to 11 weeks before your tax information is available for retrieval. If you paper file and had a balance due, regardless of any payments made, you will have to wait until JUNE (!) before the IRS processes your return. Your information then becomes available 2 to 3 weeks from June.
What if I do my FAFSA before my information is available?
We highly recommend you do your FAFSA as soon as you can using the Data Retrieval process. If, based on the above, you don't expect the Data Retrieval Process to be accessible in the near future, we recommend that you file the FAFSA without it and then use the Data Retrieval in FAFSA correction mode at a later date.
If you do not make a FAFSA correction, you will have to request a tax transcript. The tax transcript is available for request at the same time the Data Retrieval Tool is available (see question above 'When would my information be available?' for more details). However, requesting a tax transcript online or by phone will take 5-10 business days while requesting by mail will take up to 30 days.
Who should I contact for other questions?
Please contact your location's Financial Aid Office.
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