Loan repayment

You must go to the U.S. Department of Education to complete an Exit Counselling session before you leave the University or graduate.

You will be counselled on your obligations, rights and options under the terms of your loan. This session will cover repayment options, deferments and other important information you may need during your repayment term. During this session you will need to provide the following information:

• Name and address of closest living relative.
• Two references (different from closest living relative) and with different addresses.

Once this has been completed, print your confirmation page and upload it in your Student Centre under US Loan Document. This will also be required if you discontinue courses and your course load drops to under 6 credits. 

When you begin repaying your loan, you will notice that you owe more than you borrowed. This is because interest has accumulated. The interest rate for FFELP loans varies each year, but will never exceed 8.25%. The rate is adjusted each year on July 1st. You'll be notified of any interest rate changes throughout the life of your loan.

If you borrowed an unsubsidized loan, interest starts accruing (accumulating) from the time the funds were disbursed to you. You choose to either pay it while you were in school or let it accrue. If you let the interest accrue, it has been capitalized (that is, added to your principal balance). This means that the total amount you repay will be greater than if you paid the interest all along. 

Interest is calculated on a simple daily basis. It can be explained by the following formula:

• Average daily balance between payments
• X Interest rate 
• X (Number of days between payments/365.25)

For example, here is how interest accrues between payments made on April 15th and May 15th:

When you leave Concordia University or drop below half-time enrolment status, your grace period for Direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans will begin. This gives you up to six months before you must start making monthly principal and interest repayments on your loan. Remember that there is no grace period for PLUS loans.

Before repayment starts, you will be provided with Repayment Options and a Repayment Schedule from your lender or servicer for each type of loan you have. If you do not receive these schedules towards the end of your grace period, contact your lender because repayment begins whether or not you are aware of it. All borrower benefits will only apply if you make your first payment on time.

See the repayment plans.

By the time you finish university, you may have a number of loans. These loans may be with more than one lender and may have different terms. Repayment can become complicated if you have to make different payments at different times of the month. Consolidation is a way to make repayment of multiple loans less complicated.

More information on how loan consolidation works.

What types of loans can be consolidated?

Most federal student loans, including the following, are eligible for consolidation:

• Direct Subsidized Loans
• Direct Unsubsidized Loans
• Direct PLUS Loans
• PLUS loans from the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program
• Supplemental Loans for Students (SLS)
• Federal Perkins Loans
• Federal Nursing Loans
• Health Education Assistance Loans
• Some existing consolidation loans

Private education loans are not eligible for consolidation. If you are in default, you must meet certain requirements before you can consolidate your loans.

A PLUS loan made to the parent of a dependent student cannot be transferred to the student through consolidation. Therefore, a student who is applying for loan consolidation cannot include the PLUS loan the parent took out for the dependent student’s education.

A complete list of the federal student loans eligible for consolidation is available in the application

When can I consolidate my loans?

Generally, you are eligible to consolidate after you graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment.

What are the requirements to consolidate a loan?

Here are some tips on qualifying for a Direct Consolidation Loan:

• You must have at least one Direct Loan or FFEL Program loan that is in a grace period or in repayment.
• If you want to consolidate a defaulted loan, you must either make satisfactory repayment arrangements on the loan with your current loan servicer before you consolidate, or you must agree to repay your new Direct Consolidation Loan under the
• Income-Based Repayment Plan,
• Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan, or
• Income-Contingent Repayment Plan.
• Generally, you cannot consolidate an existing consolidation loan again unless you include an additional Direct Loan or FFEL Program loan in the consolidation. However, under certain circumstances you may reconsolidate an existing FFEL Consolidation Loan without including any additional loans.

There are no application fees for a Direct Consolidation Loan, and you may prepay your loan at any time without penalty.

What is the interest rate on a consolidation loan?

A Direct Consolidation Loan has a fixed interest rate for the life of the loan. The fixed rate is based on the weighted average of the interest rates on the loans being consolidated, rounded up to the nearest one-eighth of 1%. There is no cap on the interest rate of a Direct Consolidation Loan.

A deferment is a period of time during which no payments are required and interest does not accrue, unless you have a Direct unsubsidized loan or a PLUS loan. In those cases, you must pay the interest or capitalize it when deferment ends.

More information on loan deferment eligibility and application.

Forbearance occurs when your lender agrees to either temporarily reduce or postpone your loan payments. Interest continues to accrue, however, and you are responsible for paying it no matter what kind of loan you have. Interest can also be capitalized if you choose not to pay it during forbearance.

More information on forbearance.

In rare circumstances, your loan may be discharged or cancelled. This releases you from all obligations to repay the loan. Note that your loan can't be discharged because you didn't like your school or program of study, or because you didn't get a job after graduation.

More information on loan discharge and cancellation.

The first day after you miss a student loan payment, your loan becomes past due, or delinquent. Your loan account remains delinquent until you repay the past due amount or make other arrangements, such as deferment or forbearance, or changing repayment plans.

If you are delinquent on your student loan payment for 90 days or more, your loan servicer will report the delinquency to the three major national credit bureaus. If you continue to be delinquent, your loan can risk going into default. Don’t ignore your student loan payments—defaulting on your loan can have serious consequences. Learn more on how to avoid default.

Note: Credit bureaus may be called "consumer reporting agencies" on the promissory note you signed before receiving your loan.

For more information please see the following link: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/default

Withdrawing from Concordia. You are responsible for notifying the FAAO, the school, and your lender if you choose to withdraw. If you are an undergraduate and you choose to withdraw from Concordia, you must comply with the guidelines given in Sections 16 and 15 of the Undergraduate Calendar. If you are a graduate student, you should consult the Tuition and Fees Section of this site.

If you withdraw from courses before the official withdrawal (DNE) deadline, you will receive a full refund of your tuition and compulsory fees. If you withdraw after the DNE deadline, you will be responsible for the full payment of your tuition and compulsory fees.

If you withdraw from the University, you may be required to repay part of or all your loan(s). You may also owe the University any loan funds returned on your behalf. US Department of Education regulations state that your school must return loan funds if you have not completed a minimum of 60% of the payment/enrolment period. If you received more loan funding than was "earned", the excess funds must be returned by your school and/or yourself. The amount of money to be returned is determined by a specific formula that is used in a calculation called a "Return to Title IV." If you did not receive all of the funds that were earned, you may be eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement. Further information is available at www.studentaid.gov.