Alternative Loans Process

You Select a Lender

• Decide which lender to apply to.
• Complete all necessary paperwork. 
• Provide all necessary signatures

The Lender Contacts Financial Aid

• Sends us an electronic certification request after you have filled out all paperwork and are fully approved.

Financial Aid Certifies

• Certify that you are an eligible student based on the lender's criteria.
• Certify that you have unmet educational expenses that this loan will cover.
• Establish what date the funds should be sent to the college.

Next Steps

• After a mandatory 10-day rescission period (time period in which the student may cancel the loan application), the lender sends funds to the college via electronic funds transfer.
• Funds are paid directly to your student account with the college.
• Tuition and anything owed to the college are paid.
• If there is a balance owed back to you, the college will either process a direct deposit into your checking or savings account or process a paper check that will be mailed to your mailing address on file with the college.

Things to Remember

• If you want your loan to cover education-related expenses for something not already in your cost of attendance, you will need to request an increase to your cost of attendance. The revision request must be in the Office of Financial Aid prior to our receiving the loan certification request.
• If your expenses are higher or lower from one term to the next, you may provide a written request that your loan be disbursed unevenly to account for this.
• Only some lenders will loan to students who are enrolled as non-degree-seeking students, enrolled less-than-half-time, not meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress standards, or in a non-credit program.
• August and September are high-volume months for all aspects of the financial aid process. At this time of year, certification of loans may lag by several weeks.