How To Apply for Federal Direct Stafford Loans

(William D. Ford Federal Direct Student Loans) 

at American River College

2011 - 2012

American River College encourages students to first apply for grants or scholarships before borrowing a student loan. A student loan is a serious and long-term obligation that should be used only as a last resort. If it is necessary for you to apply for a loan, you must complete the following steps below.

1. Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for 2011-2012 school year at www.fafsa.ed.gov. List American River College on your FAFSA. Our federal school code is 001232.  Obtain a FAFSA PIN (personal identification number) at www.pin.ed.gov to sign your FAFSA and Master Promissory Note (MPN) for the Direct Stafford Loans.
2. Register for classes at ARC. You must be enrolled in at least half-time status. Half-time status is 6 units for the fall and spring semesters, and 3 units for the summer semester. Do not count wait listed classes.
3. Complete your 2011-2012 financial aid file with the ARC Financial Aid Office. You must have a valid email address.
4. Complete both the student Loan Entrance Counseling and MPN at  www.studentLoans.gov.
5. Log into the ARC Financial Aid System at http://studentaid.arc.losrios.edu and select My ARC AID on the left screen panel. Log in (If you are a first-time user, select First Time User link in the Log In box to obtain your ARC Financial Aid System PIN). Once you are logged in proceed to complete the loan request online after clicking the ApplyOnline tab.
   
   For additional loan request within the same award year, the ApplyOnline tab will not be available; you must complete and submit a separate Direct Loan Request Form to request additional student loan. You can download this form in the Forms tab and submit it to the ARC Financial Aid Office.
6. Submit an enlarged and legible copy of your social security card and driver's license/state photo ID to our office. Student ID is not acceptable. If your name on the social security card and driver's license/state photo ID do not match your FAFSA and school records, your loan request will not be processed.
   
   To protect your personal information and prevent identity theft, you must submit these copies in person or by U.S. Postal mail to ARC Financial Aid Office at:
   

   American River College
   4700 College Oak Drive
   Sacramento, CA 95841
   Attention: Financial Aid Office

7. Once we receive your loan request and determine that you meet eligibility requirements, we will process your loan and send the information to the Department of Education.
   
   You will receive notification of a student loan award by email from ARC Financial Aid and a Disclosure Statement from the Department of Education. As stated in item 3 above, you must have a valid email address to receive the award notification and Disclosure Statement.
   
8. After your loan request is approved by the Department of Education, we will email you loan disbursement date information - you must have selected a payment method with Higher One Financial Services Company to receive all financial aid funds. To learn more about Higher One Financial Services and its LRCCD OneCard, go to https://lrccdonecard.higheroneaccount.com/.
9. You must be enrolled in 6 active units (the courses must have started) and maintain eligibility requirements before loan disbursement can be made to the selected account of your choice with Higher One Financial Services Company.
10. You must complete a debt management counseling online if you have borrowed $20,000.00 or more in federal student loans. You will receive an email from our office whether or not you are required to complete the debt management counseling at a later date.

In general, loan fund will be issued in two disbursements depending on your loan award period. 

Effective July 1, 2011, interest rate for Direct Stafford Subsidized Loan is 3.4% and Direct Stafford Unsubsidized Loan is 6.8%.

You will be charged an origination fee of 1.0% and received an up-front 0.5% rebate interest on the Direct Stafford Subsidized & Unsubsidized Loans you borrowed in the 2011-2012 award year. Rebate interest is based on the borrower making the first 12 monthly payments on time. If the borrower does not make the 12 monthly payments on time, the rebate is cancelled and the borrower owes the 0.5%.

Loan payment(s) will be deposited to the account you have selected with Higher One Financial Services. Learn more about Higher One Financial Services and its LRCCD OneCard at https://lrccdonecard.higheroneaccount.com/.

Per federal requirement, if you are a first-year undergraduate student and first-time borrower, your first loan payment will not be processed until 30 days after the first day of half-time enrollment. The second disbursement depends on successfully completion of at least half-time status (6 units) in the previous semester and if you continue to meet satisfactory academic progress.  

Fall 2011        October 27, 2011 - you must also complete steps 4 and 6 above by this date.
Spring 2012   March 22, 2012 - you must also complete steps 4 and 6 above by this date.

To be in compliance with federal requirements and to avoid overpayment issues, you must be enrolled in at least half-time (6 units) status in courses that begin by the loan request deadline. No enrollment adjustments to financial aid awards, including Direct Stafford Loans, will be made after this date.