Entrance Counseling: Federal regulations require first-time Stafford Loan borrowers to receive loan counseling before the first disbursement of their Stafford Loan is released. During loan counseling, the Stafford Loan program is explained in detail and students are informed of their rights and responsibilities as Stafford Loan borrowers. Students required to participate in loan counseling will be notified by the Financial Aid Office. At UMF, students can fulfill the entrance counseling requirement using one of two methods:

On the Web: Students can use on-line entrance counseling  

provided by Mapping Your Future

Group Meetings: Loan counseling sessions for large groups of students are normally scheduled during the first week of classes of the fall and spring terms. Students may attend one of these sessions in place of using the Web System.

Exit Counseling: Students who graduate, withdraw, transfer or take a leave of absence from UMF must receive exit counseling explaining their obligation to repay the loan and the conditions for deferment, forbearance, and cancellation. As with entrance counseling, students have different options for fulfilling the exit counseling requirement:

On the Web: Students can use on-line exit counseling for Stafford Loans provided by Mapping Your Future

Group Meetings: Stafford Loan borrowers who have notified the Registrar's Office of their plans to graduate in the spring will be invited by the Financial Aid Office to attend a group exit counseling meeting during the last two weeks of the semester.

Student Loan Ombudsman: The Ombudsman's Office is a resource for borrowers to use when other approaches to resolving student loan problems have failed.  Borrowers should first attempt to resolve complaints by contacting the school, company, agency, or office directly involved.  If the borrower has made a reasonable effort to resolve the problem through normal processes and has not been successful, he or she should contact the SFA Ombudsman.