Financial Aid - Loans

Students requesting federal student loans at Paris Junior College must first submit an online loan request through the college website. Once submitted, the request is processed by the Financial Aid Office within 14 business days. After processing, the student is awarded the applicable federal loan(s) and notified via an official award letter in email format. The award letter will be emailed to the students’ Dragon Email account. The student must then log into their student portal to either accept or decline the awarded loan package before any funds can be disbursed on the account. You must have a valid Entrance Counseling and Master Promissory Note on file with PJC before any Federal Student Loans can be disbursed.

Beginning with the 2026–27 award year, federal loan amounts are also subject to a new Schedule of Reductions (SOR) under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Under SOR, a student's annual loan eligibility is prorated based on enrollment intensity relative to full-time status (12 credit hours for undergraduates), like how Pell Grant awards are adjusted. This means a student's loan amount may be reduced if they are not enrolled full-time for the full academic year, and any change in enrollment can trigger a recalculation at the next scheduled disbursement. At PJC, this adjustment is applied in addition to the existing 6-credit-hour minimum required before disbursement occurs.

Loan disbursements are issued in two separate payments per semester and are contingent upon the student being enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours. Disbursements do not occur until after the (Official Reporting Date/ORD) for the 16-week semester has passed, ensuring enrollment is verified before funds are released. The two disbursements occur approximately 30 days apart, allowing the college to confirm continued enrollment and eligibility between payments.

Federal Student Loans can be cancelled if the student is not making Satisfactory Academic progress, not enrolled in the correct hours, or does not meet Federal requirements for awarding. Disbursements from the Student Account department can take approximately 14 business days to reach the student and can have delays in processing times.

You are required to fill out and have a valid Master Promissory Note and Entrance Counseling with Paris Junior College. You can fill this out at www.studentaid.gov:

StudentAid.gov - Master Promissory Note  StudentAid.gov - Entrance Counseling

The U.S. Department of Education requires that a student participate in Federal Direct Loan Exit Counseling for a student who has taken out a Federal Direct student loan, or when a student withdraws, graduates, drops below half-time attendance or plans on transferring to another school.

PJC requires the student to complete counseling in group exit counseling sessions that will be offered at the end of each academic term (Fall, Spring and Summer).

If a student fails to complete Federal Direct Loan Exit Counseling, they will receive a letter directing them to the Federal Direct Loan Exit Counseling website.

After 30 days, if student still has not completed exit counseling the Financial Aid Office will send out an Exit Counseling Guide provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Every attempt will be made to assist the student in completing the exit counseling before he or she leaves campus. Holds will be placed on students’ accounts until they have completed exit counseling.

StudentAid.gov - Exit Counseling

Yes. Unlike Pell aid, which is a grant program, student loans must be repaid by the student!

For Federal Direct Student Loans, after you graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment, you have a six-month grace period before you must begin making payments.

Please note that loans in this deferment period may still be generating interest!

Forbearance is a temporary postponement of payments.

An example of this is the delayed repayment period while you are actively attending college. 

A loan servicer is a company that handles the billing and other services on your Federal Student Loan.

If you are having problems making payments on your loans, contact your loan servicer for repayment plans, student loan forgiveness, and more options.

If you don't pay your loan back according to the terms outlined in your Master Promissory Note (MPN), you can be placed in a default status by your loan servicer.

Students with loans in a default status are not eligible for additional federal grant or loan aid at any institution until the default status is removed!

Defaulting on your loan will result in negative affects to your credit report. Additionally, the IRS can withhold tax refunds and require employers to garnish your wages in order to apply them to your outstanding loan balance.

Defaults can only be corrected by the loan servicer. The most common method for clearing a default status is to resume making payments on the loan through negotiated repayment plans.

You can find your loan servicer's contact information by reviewing your Master Promissory Note or by contacting the Department of Education's Helpline at 1-800-433-3243.