Federal Student Loans and Private Student Loans

On or after Oct. 1st of each year, complete the FAFSA form online at StudentAid.gov to qualify for federal assistance such as federal loans, grants and/or work-study. GCU uses the FAFSA information to determine your eligibility for federal financial aid as well as scholarships and/or other grants.

Learn more about FAFSA and the application process to get started.

If you plan to borrow student loans, you will need to log into your Federal Student Aid account at StudentAid.gov to complete your Entrance Counseling and Master Promissory Note. If you are a current student or interested in becoming a GCU student, speak with your student services counselor or university counselor at 1-855-GCU-LOPE to learn more.

Once you have submitted all the required documentation and are eligible to receive federal aid, you will be notified of the types of awards available to you and the estimated cost for the academic year. Federal student loans will be awarded only if there’s a completed Entrance Interview and Master Promissory Note on file and you notify your student services counselor (SSC) that you wish to receive loans.

Please notify your SSC if you wish to borrow less than what was awarded to you. Any funds exceeding the posted charges will create a credit balance on the account and an excess funds (stipend) check will be mailed to the borrower to help cover other educational expenses.

Remember, you must:

• Maintain satisfactory grades in order to remain eligible for aid
• Complete the FAFSA form (typically available Oct. 1) before each school year
• Be at least half-time status to receive federal loans
• Not be in default on federal student loans or owe a refund on grants
• Have not exceeded annual or lifetime aggregate loan limits
• Not receive total aid that exceeds the cost of attendance

Once you graduate, withdraw or fall below half-time status, your loan servicer will initiate the repayment process.

It’s best to prepare to repay your student loans as you get closer to your graduation date. Fortunately, if you borrow federal student loans, you will be granted a six-month grace period before you must start making payments. Use this time to organize your finances and choose the best repayment plan for your budget. Contact your loan servicer and/or GCU’s loan repayment support team to learn more about repayment options. 

A student loan servicer is the company that manages your particular student loan(s). Your servicer has several functions, such as collecting payments, applying postponements, helping select the best repayment plan and addressing any questions regarding your loans. To find out who your loan servicer is, please log in to the National Student Loan Data System at StudentAid.gov

You can calculate your monthly payments in one of two ways: 

1. Estimate your payments by using the Department of Education’s Repayment Estimator. Using the estimator, you have two options:
   1. Click “Proceed” if you know about how much you owe in student loans and want a quick estimate.
   2. Click “Log in” if you want a more exact number. When you log in, the system will pull in all of your federal student loans found in the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) and estimate a plan based on what you currently have in federal student loan debt.
2. Contact your servicer. You can find your servicer at StudentAid.gov

You can contact your servicer and ask about an income-based repayment plan. The servicer will ask questions concerning your annual income, household size and other information to find a repayment plan that best fits your needs. If you are not able to make any payments at this time due to hardship, you may also ask your servicer about the other options to temporarily postpone payments until you are able to make payments again. To find out which student loan servicer services your federal student loans, log in to StudentAid.gov

A forbearance is a temporary postponement of your loan payments and can be used up to 12 months at a time, for a total of 36 months. You can apply for a forbearance verbally by calling your servicer, or you can complete a paper forbearance form and submit to your servicer for processing. There is another postponement type called a deferment, which requires you to meet certain qualifications. It is important to know that, unlike a deferment, interest does accrue while on a forbearance. Forbearance approval is reliant upon the servicer's discretion. Please contact your servicer directly to determine specific regulations, and to see if you qualify. To find out which servicer is assigned to your federal student loan(s), log in to StudentAid.gov

A deferment is a postponement option that allows you to temporarily suspend your federal student loan payments. You must meet the qualifications for a deferment and often submit supporting documentation before approval. While on a deferment, you are not required to pay the interest on subsidized loans. Deferment opportunities are available for unemployment, economic hardship, school enrollment and military service. The length of the deferment depends on the type of postponement. To determine the deferment option that best suits your situation, contact your loan servicer for more information. To find out what loan servicer is assigned to your federal student loans, log into StudentAid.gov

You have 36 months of general forbearance time and you may use up to 12 months at a time. If, after 12 months of general forbearance time, you are still struggling to make payments, a better option may be an income-driven repayment plan or a mandatory student debt forbearance, which does not have the same time constraints. Once your 36 months of forbearance have been exhausted, you will not be eligible for additional forbearance time unless you consolidate your loans, at which time your general forbearance time starts over. Deferments also have time limits. If you use the maximum deferment period and are struggling to make payments, consider an income-driven repayment plan, mandatory student loan debt forbearance or general forbearance.

Forbearance and deferment applications take about 7-10 business days to process once received by your servicer. You should receive a communication from your servicer indicating whether the application was approved or denied. If you have not yet received communication from your loan servicer, your best course of action is to call them as soon as possible to confirm whether your application was received. Your servicer can provide you with the information you will need to resubmit your application and help avoid delinquency while it’s being processed. If you mailed your forbearance or deferment application, please allow additional time for processing. To find out what loan servicer is assigned to your federal student loans, log in to StudentAid.gov

Schools are allowed to keep a portion of your federal student aid and apply it to any charges incurred, based on the amount of time you attended class. If you never attended and dropped any scheduled courses prior to the start date, you should not have received any financial aid. If you attended class, even for a short time, you will still be charged for a portion of the class, per your enrollment agreement. If you leave before completing your classes, the school will determine how much of your financial aid you have earned and return the unearned portion to the Department of Education. This will reduce the amount you owe overall, but you may still owe an amount. Additionally, excess funds are often sent to students as a stipend check. These excess funds may include monies from federal student aid, including loans. This may increase the amount of your federal student loans due unless the stipend check is voided and returned to the school for credit to your account. 

Contact your student services counselor (SSC), who can help answer any questions you have about your school-related charges and any loans that were applied to these charges. You can access your SSC’s contact information by logging into your school portal. If you do not have access to your portal, please contact the GCU main line at 855-GCU-LOPE and you will be transferred to your counselor.

The servicer is responsible for taking payments and setting up your repayment plan. You can find your assigned servicer by logging in to your National Student Loan Data System account at NSLDS.ed.gov. You will automatically be put into the Standard Repayment Plan if you do not contact your servicer. This plan will have the highest payments but will have the lowest interest and the shortest term. For more information on how to repay your loan, refer to the Repaying Your Loans guide offered by the Department of Education.

Whenever a student is enrolled in a course that is considered 0 credit hours or only enrolls in a limited amount of credits (below half-time), they may not be considered an eligible student and, as a result, become responsible for paying their student loans while in school. Talk to your student services counselor in order to obtain more information regarding your enrollment status.

Payments take about 1-2 business days to process. If the funds have been withdrawn from your account but have not yet been credited to your loan account, your best course of action is to call your servicer as soon as possible. Depending on your payment method, you may need to work with your bank or payment issuing institution to confirm whether the funds were paid and to whom. If the funds have not yet left your payment account, your payment may still be processing, or an error may have occurred during submission. Payments made by mail can sometimes be lost in transit, so it is best to save all money order receipts and check copies until you are sure the payment has been credited to your loan account. 

If you made a payment and your servicer shows it is processed, but you are still delinquent, you most likely did not pay the full amount that was past due. If this is your situation, contact your servicer for more information. To find out what loan servicer is assigned to your federal student loans, log into StudentAid.gov

After your last date of attendance, or after the end of your last term, Direct Loans typically have a six‑month grace period. You don’t have to make payments during grace. If you re‑enroll at least half‑time before using the full six months, you’ll receive a full new six‑month grace period the next time you leave school. If you re‑enroll after your six‑month grace has been fully used, your existing loans will be placed into in‑school deferment while you’re enrolled, but when you leave school again those loans enter repayment immediately and your first payment is due within 60 days. Any new loans borrowed for the new enrollment will have their own six‑month grace.

Unpaid interest accrues on your federal unsubsidized student loan from the moment it is disbursed and is then added to the principal balance of your loan when you graduate or drop below half-time attendance. This interest capitalization occurs as soon as the in-school deferment period has ended.