The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, called Direct Loans for short, allows students to borrow low-cost educational loans from the federal government. To be eligible for the Direct Loans, students must be enrolled at least half-time. Repayment of these loans begins 6 months after students leave school or fall below half time enrollment.

The U.S. Department of Education’s federal student loan program is the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program. Under this program, the U.S. Department of Education is your lender. There are four types of Direct Loans available:

• Direct Subsidized Loans are loans made to eligible undergraduate students who demonstrate financial need to help cover the costs of higher education at a college or career school.
• Direct Unsubsidized Loans are loans made to eligible undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, but eligibility is not based on financial need.
• Direct PLUS Loans are loans made to graduate or professional students and parents of dependent undergraduate students to help pay for education expenses not covered by other financial aid. Eligibility is not based on financial need, but a credit check is required. Borrowers who have an adverse credit history must meet additional requirements to qualify.

To be eligible for the Federal Student Aid (FSA), you must:

• Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form every year you are in school. You must list the GUMED school code G36845 on the FAFSA. Otherwise, we will not receive your FAFSA information and cannot award you financial aid. Be a U.S. Citizen or an Eligible Non-citizen (see below).
• Have a valid Social Security Number (SSN).
• Register (if you have not already) with Selective Service if you are a male between the ages of 18 and 25 (with very few exceptions).
• Have a high school diploma/ General Educational Development (GED) certificate/ completing a high school education in a homeschool setting approved under state law.
• Be enrolled in a degree-seeking or approved certificate program.
• Not be in default on any federal educational loans or owe a refund on a federal grant.
• Make a Satisfactory Academic Process.
• Be enrolled at least half-time, i.e. for at least 15 ECTS during one semester (30 ECTS during academic year) if you are a student in BA or MA program.

To meet the Citizen or Eligible Non-citizen criterion, you must be:

• A U.S. Citizen (or U.S. National).
• A permanent U.S. resident with a Permanent Resident Card.
• The holder of an I-94 from the Department of Homeland Security with one of the following designations:
  • Refugee
  • Asylum Granted
  • Parolee – for a minimum of one year and status has not expired
  • Victim of Human Trafficking
  • T-Visa Holder: (T1, T2, T3, etc.)
  • Cuban-Haitian entrant

Students are considered dependent or independent based on information provided on the FAFSA. An independent student is one of the following: at least 24 years old, married, a graduate or professional student, a veteran, a member of the armed forces, an orphan, a ward of the court, or someone with legal dependents other than a spouse, an emancipated minor or someone who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Dependent student is a student who does not meet any of the criteria for an independent student. An independent student is one of the following: at least 24 years old, married, a graduate or professional student, a veteran, a member of the armed forces, an orphan, a ward of the court, someone with legal dependents other than a spouse, an emancipated minor or someone who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Once your financial aid application and all requested information has been received and processed, you will receive the Award Letter that provides a summary of your financial aid. The Award Letter also provides information on additional steps that must be completed if you want to decline your award. Failure to respond is considered an acceptance of the award.

The delivery of Title IV funds must be carried out by organizationally independent individuals in accordance with cash management rules. While the FAA awards aid and authorizes payment to eligible students, the Financial Department actually disburses and delivers the funds.Financial aid is disbursed first to your University student account to cover tuition, and other university fees. If the amount of your aid is greater than the charges on your student account, the difference will be sent to your bank account via direct deposit. The loan will be disbursed to your account no later than 10 days past the receiving funds by school.

The FAA assigns each aid applicant a budget, or estimated cost of attendance (COA), before awarding aid. The COA is a good faith estimate of expenses a student will encounter in an academic year and it includes tuition and estimated costs for books and supplies, childcare, long distance travel, utilities/internet, rent, food, local travel and miscellaneous/personal expenses and others. A budget adjustment may be requested to cover certain additional costs above the standard budget. Special circumstance requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The financial aid identified on your Award Letter is offered to you with the following conditions:

• You must be enrolled as a degree-seeking student.
• You must be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.
• You must be enrolled at least half-time.
• You must notify the FAA of the sources and amounts of any financial assistance that you receive from all other sources, including but not limited to scholarships, loans, assistantships, fellowships and educational benefits that do not appear on your Award Letter.
• The FAA reserves the right to adjust or cancel any award at any time because of the notification of awards not previously included on your Award Letter, changes in a student’s financial status, academic status or due to an awarding error. Changes reflected in your awards will result in an e-mail to the student which serves as notification of the change.
• You will be responsible for repaying any funds you receive that exceed your financial need, or if for any reason, you become ineligible for the financial aid.
• If you drop classes, withdraw or make other academic changes, your financial aid awards may be adjusted and repayment may be required.
• If you stop attending classes without officially withdrawing, your financial aid awards may be adjusted and repayment may be required.
• You must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress.
• You will receive financial aid in two instalments (one half is disbursed for winter semester; the second half for summer semester), unless otherwise noted.

When the student withdraws during the payment period the FAA shall apply a specific formula to determine the amount of Title IV assistance earned up to that point. If the student did not receive all of the funds earned, there may be due a Post-withdrawal disbursement, however the University must get the student’s permission before it can disburse them. Up through the 60% point in each payment period or period of enrollment, a pro rata schedule is used to determine the amount of Title IV funds the student has earned at the time of withdrawal. After the 60% point in the payment period or period of enrollment, a student has earned 100% of the Title IV funds the student was scheduled to receive during the period.For a student who withdraws after the 60% point-in-time, there are no unearned funds. However, a school must still determine whether the student is eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement (PWD).

A student is considered to have withdrawn from a payment period or period of enrollment if

• in the case of a program that is measured in credit hours, the student does not complete all the days in the payment period or period of enrollment that the student was scheduled to complete
• in the case of a program that is measured in clock hours, the student does not complete all of the clock hours and weeks of instructional time in the payment period or period of enrollment that the student was scheduled to complete; or
• for a student in a nonterm or nonstandard-term credit hour program offered in modules, the student is not scheduled to begin another course within a payment period or period of enrollment for more than 45 calendar days after the end of the module the student ceased attending, unless the student is on an approved leave of absence, as defined later in this chapter.

Financial Aid Office
ph: +48 58 349 16 36
fax: +48 58 349 10 68

e-mail: financial.aid@gumed.edu.pl , dwl@gumed.edu.pl