LOAN QUESTIONS
How do I apply for a student federal loan?
Federal Loans (Perkins, Stafford , Graduate PLUS) require that a financial aid application – FAFSA – be completed for every academic year, for which the borrower is interested in receiving loans. Once the Financial Aid Office receives your FAFSA from the federal processor, we will determine your eligibility for the different types of federal loans available.
An electronic Financial Aid Notification (eFAN) will be sent to you to let you know what loans have been offered. You will need to accept the offer on your eFAN, which will prompt UCLA to send the certification of your loan eligibility to the lender. Before the loans are funded, you will also need to complete a promissory note for the loan(s) you are planning to borrow. Please refer to Do I need to complete loan promissory notes every year? for additional information about promissory notes. Refer to the FFELP Guide and Graduate PLUS Guide (available under Publications on this site) for more detailed information.
NOTE: First time student borrowers are also required to complete a Debt management Session with Student Loan Services, before their loans can be disbursed. The DMS can be completed on the web at www.loans.ucla.edu.
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How do I apply for a parent federal loan?
UCLA requires that a financial aid application – FAFSA – be completed for every academic year, for which the borrower is interested in receiving Parent PLUS loans. Once the Financial Aid Office receives your FAFSA from the federal processor, we will determine your eligibility for Parent PLUS. An electronic Financial Aid Notification (eFAN) will be sent to you to inform you and your parent what your parent how much they can apply for in a parent PLUS.
To apply for parent PLUS, the borrower must request the loan and complete a Master Promissory Note (if borrowing for the first time or changing a lender) at https://opennet.salliemae.com . Once the application process is complete the lender will contact UCLA Financial Aid Office and we will verify your eligibility.
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What are Private Loans?
Private Loans are funded by banks and private lending institutions. These loans are credit based and are not federally regulated so their terms will vary depending on the lender. Private Loans that require certification by the Financial Aid Office can be certified up to a student's Cost of Education minus other aid received for the period. To find out more information about Private Loans, please refer to The Private Guide and Private Loan Preferred Lender List, available in the FAO Publications on our site.
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What is OpenNet?
OpeNet is Sallie Mae's origination system. UCLA uses OpenNet to process and monitor student and parent federal loans. You can access this site at https://opennet.salliemae.com to:
* Complete and sign your (federal and Sallie Mae private loans) promissory notes electronically.
* Get real-time information on the status of your loans.
* Print out your promissory notes (if you prefer to complete them via mail).
* Update your address, phone number, references, etc.
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Do I need to complete loan promissory notes every year?
You are required to complete promissory notes annually for the Perkins Loan. Perkins promissory notes will be mailed to you by Student Loan Services if/when you accept this loan on your Financial Aid Notification (FAN).
Federal Loans ( Stafford and PLUS) require that a Master Promissory Note (MPN) be completed only once, when you borrow for the first time. New borrowers can complete their MPN on the web at https://opennet.salliemae.com . A new MPN would be required if you decide to switch lenders.
Private loans require a new promissory note to be submitted every year. At the time you apply and are approved for a private loan, the lender will provide the promissory note for you to complete.
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I applied for a loan but have not received any disbursements?
A couple of factors may prevent your loan from being funded in a timely manner:
• The lender is not in possession of you promissory notes. To verify that your promissory note is complete contact –
• For Stafford and PLUS loans processed with one of UCLA's electronic lenders– contact Sallie Mae at 888-272-5543
• For Stafford and PLUS loans processed with a non-Sallie Mae lender – contact your lender directly
• For Perkins Loan – contact UCLA Student Loan Services at 310-825-9864
• For private Loan – contact your lender. Private lender contact information can be found on the Preferred Lender List: Private Loans under ‘Publications' link on this site.
• You are a first time borrower and have not completed a Debt management Session. If you are borrowing a Perkins, Stafford or Graduate PLUS Loan for the first time at UCLA, you MUST complete the Debt Management Session requirement with Student Loan Services at www.loans.ucla.edu .
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What is a preferred lender and why are they preferred?
Every year, the Financial Aid Office prepares a list of preferred lenders in order make it easier for our parents and students to select a lender for their educational loans and to compare the borrower benefits that are available. UCLA selects preferred lenders based on the following criteria:
- Borrower benefits offered – the borrower benefits provided by our preferred lenders are comparable to or better to those offered by any other lender in the industry. Many of the lenders that we work with provide UCLA borrowers with “premier” benefits when compared to the industry standard.
- Ease of process for the borrower – all of our preferred lenders support a totally paperless application and e-signature process on the web that allows our borrowers to complete the application process in minutes, 24/7.
- Ease of process for the school – all of our preferred lenders support a totally paperless, fully electronic process to originate and disburse loans. This allows us to certify and disburse loans within 1-2 business days (compared to 1-2 weeks for a non-electronic process).
- Customer Support for the borrower – Sallie Mae, the company that processes loans for all of UCLA's preferred lenders, has a dedicated team of customer service representatives who can answer all of your loan questions. Our borrowers have a single point of contact for all of their borrowing needs.
- Customer Support for the school – the Financial Aid Office has a dedicated team of professionals who understand our process and are available to us in order to obtain information, identify potential issues and resolve problems. As the result, the Financial Aid Office is able to ensure a much smoother, more error-free process for loans certified with one of our preferred lenders.
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Can I borrow a loan from a lender that is not on UCLA's preferred lender list?
Yes. However, if you select a lender that is not listed on our preferred lender list we would recommend that you check with the Financial Aid Office to determine whether we can process your loans electronically. If the lender you select is not an ‘electronic lender', your loans will be managed via a paper process. This means that:
- We will not be able to certify your loans electronically. Paper certification process takes longer and is subject to delays because information may need to be faxed or mailed to the lender.
- We will not be able to monitor the loan process to identify errors and ensure a timely delivery of funds because we do not receive electronic status updates from the lenders that are not electronic.
- The lender will not be able to disburse your funds electronically. Instead, a paper check will be sent to Student Loan Services at the beginning of each term that you will need to pick up in person.
- Because the loan will be disbursed via a paper check, the Financial Aid Office will not be able to disburse those funds to your Billing and Receivable (BAR) account in order to pay any outstanding charges (i.e. fees).
Because of the limitations of the paper process, it is important that the above factors are considered when choosing a lender who is not on UCLA's electronic lender list.
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