When you apply for financial aid, you may be offered loans as part of your school’s financial aid package. A student loan allows you to borrow money to attend a college or career school, which you must repay along with accrued interest.
Understanding your repayment options is crucial to successfully managing and repaying your loan.
If you are considering taking out student loans, it is important that you understand your various loan options, loan limits, as well as other considerations.
To receive a student loan you must:
Eligibility Requirements for Federal Student Loans
Need help? Please contact Dianne Chan at Dianne.Chan@pikespeak.edu or 719-502-2299 if you have any questions about completing the online loan counseling session.
Current interest rates on loans disbursed between July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 are:
Please Note: Interest rates generally increase or decrease every July 1.
Federal Student loans often have lower interest rates than private loans, with deferred
interest while in school. Remember, borrowed money must be repaid. PPSC participates
in the Federal Direct Loan Program, where students borrow Stafford Loan funds directly
from the U.S. Department of Education.
Subsidized loans don’t accrue interest when you are enrolled in school at least part-time, during periods of deferment and during your six-month grace period after you leave school.
Must have demonstrated financial need based on EFC
Must be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours
Meets Financial Aid eligibility requirements
Does not accrue interest while student is enrolled in at least 6 credit hours
Requires repayment after graduating, ceasing enrollment, or drops below half-time enrollment
Must complete the Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Entrance Loan Counseling through studentaid.gov to receive.
Note: Direct Subsidized Loans are available only to undergraduate students who have financial need based off their FAFSA.
Unsubsidized loans accrue interest even while you are in school.
Does not require demonstrated financial need
Must be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours to receive
Meets Financial Aid eligibility requirements
Accrues interest immediately after disbursement
Requires repayment after graduating, ceasing enrollment, or drops below half-time enrollment
Must complete Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Entrance Loan Counseling through the studentaid.gov to receive.
PPSC only offers the base loan amount $3,500 in subsidized/unsubsidized to adjust the amount please complete a loan request form
A Direct PLUS loan may be borrowed by the parent of a dependent student to help with the student’s educational costs.
Enrolled in at least 6 credit hours
Meets Financial Aid eligibility requirements
Parents must complete the PLUS Master Promissory Note and submit the PLUS Loan Request Form.
None of the following, by themselves, are sufficient to make a dependent student eligible for additional unsubsidized loans.
The parent's unwillingness to borrow a Direct PLUS Loan.
The aid administrator's belief that a parent should not borrow a Direct Plus Loan.
If only one of the student's parents has applied for a Direct PLUS Loan and been denied based on adverse credit, students may be awarded additional Direct Unsubsidized Loan funds on that basis.
$3,500
Dependent students can request an additional $2,000 unsubsidized loan per year.
Independent students can request an additional $6,000 unsubsidized loan per year.
$4,500
Dependent students can request an additional $2,000 unsubsidized loan per year.
Independent students can request an additional $6,000 unsubsidized loan per year.
$5,500
Dependent students can request an additional $2,000 unsubsidized loan per year.
Independent students can request an additional $7,000 unsubsidized loan per year.
$57,500 for an Independent Student
$31,000 for a Dependent Student
No more than $23,000 may be in subsidized loans
When you apply for financial aid, you might be offered loans, which need to be repaid
with interest. If you decide to take out a loan, make sure you understand the terms
and conditions of the loan.
Federal student loans generally have more benefits and less interest than private
loans. Sometimes the interest is deferred while students are in school. Keep in mind that
any money you borrow needs to be repaid.
PPSC is a participant in the Federal Direct Loan Program in which students borrow
Stafford Loan funds directly from the U.S. Department of Education rather than from
a lender.
Federal student loans are an investment in your future. You should not be afraid to take out federal student loans, but you should be smart about it.
Be a responsible borrower.
As a loan recipient, you can expect a few things to happen after graduation, dropping below half-time enrollment, leaving PPSC, or transferring to a new institution:
At StudentAid.gov you can estimate monthly student loan payments and
learn more about repayment options that best meet your needs and goals.
Note: This scenario assumes you DID NOT pay interest on your loan while in school.
Original Loan Balance: $10,000
with interest capitalization:
Note: This scenario assumes you DO PAY interest on your loan while in school.
Original Loan Balance: $10,000 without interest capitalization:
**It is beneficial for borrowers to make their interest payments because the loan will disclose at a lower balance.
In this comparison, the monthly installment is $55.24 less and the total repayment at the end of the life of the loan is a savings of $1828.41 in interest.
Be Aware: Student loans are generally not dischargeable in bankruptcy!A Cohort Default Rate (CDR) is the percentage of a school’s borrowers who enter repayment on student loans during a federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30) and default prior to the end of the next two federal fiscal years (3-Year CDR).
The United States Department of Education releases official cohort default rates once per year for schools participating in the Title IV student financial assistance programs.
A college’s Cohort Default Rate (CDR) measures the percentage of their federal student loan borrowers who defaulted on their student loans within a specified period of time after entering repayment. Colleges with high CDR rates are subject to lose future eligibility for federal Title IV aid, to include Pell grants and federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized student loans.
Learn more about student loan delinquency and default - and its consequences:
*3YR Official CDR rate for FY2020 is the most recent rate provided by the Department of Education. These are borrowers who entered repayment of their student loans between Oct. 1, 2019, and Sept. 30, 2020, and subsequently defaulted between Oct. 1, 2019, and Sept. 30, 2022.
Here at Pikes Peak State College, the official rate is .1%. This includes 2,300 borrowers
in repayment during the 2020 fiscal year. Those students were tracked over a three-year
period and 3 of them defaulted on their student loans. As expected, FY 2020 cohort
default rates were significantly impacted by the pause on federal student loan payments
that began March 13, 2020. During the pause, borrowers with ED-held student loans
were not required to make any payments, and no borrowers with ED-held loans entered
default. Fewer than 200 borrowers with non-ED-held FFEL loans entered default because
those loans were not eligible for the payment pause.
