Federal Direct Loans
A Federal Direct Loan is a low-interest-rate loan for students that can be used to help pay for their college education. Please note, if you are graduating at the end of fall semester, review information on loan proration as your loan amounts will be impacted.
Unsubsidized
You are responsible for paying the interest while you are in school for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans. If you do not make the interest payments, the interest will be added to your principal balance through a process called capitalization.
Effective July 1st, 2012 the Department of Education has eliminated the interest subsidy on all new federal Direct Loans for graduate students. All graduate Direct loans issued with a first disbursement date on or after July 1st, 2012 will be unsubsidized.
Interest Rates
Unsubsidized Loans for graduate students first disbursed on or after July 1, 2025 and before July 1, 2026 will have a fixed interest rate of 7.94%
Loan Fees
All Direct Loans first disbursed on or after October 1, 2020 will have an origination loan fee of 1.057%. This fee covers administrative costs of the loan.
Enrollment Intensity
Beginning July 1, 2026, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) introduces new federal rules requiring Direct Loan eligibility to be prorated based on a student’s enrollment intensity. Beginning with the 2026–2027 academic year, students enrolled full time (minimum of 9 credits per semester for graduate students) may receive their full annual Direct Loan eligibility, while students enrolled less than full time will have their loans reduced proportionally based on their enrollment percentage (i.e., the number of credits they register for in a given term). Because enrollment intensity is reviewed each term, loan amounts may vary from semester to semester depending on a student’s credit load.
Borrowing Limits
Beginning July 1, 2026, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) maintains the Federal Direct Loan borrowing limit for graduate students at Rollins as $20,500 per year, but the bill does update the maximum lifetime borrowing limit for new students. For new borrowers effective Fall 2026, the bill has now revised the lifetime aggregate limit to $100,000 (excluding any loans borrowed at the undergraduate level). Returning students who borrowed a Direct Loan before July 1, 2026 while enrolled in their current graduate program are grandfathered under the prior aggregate limit of $138,500 (this cap does include any loans borrowed at the undergraduate level). Students who are grandfathered may continue borrowing under the previous limit for up to three additional academic years or the remainder of their expected time‑to‑credential—whichever occurs first—provided they remain continuously enrolled in the same program at the same institution.
Repayment
Repayment on the principal begins six months after graduation, leaving school, or dropping below half-time status. There are multiple repayment plans ranging from 10 years to 30 years.
Entrance and Exit Counseling
New federal Direct Loan recipients are required to complete entrance counseling. New federal Direct Loan borrowers are notified and typically complete entrance counseling online as they sign the Master Promissory Note (MPN).
Exit counseling is required for all students who have received a federal Direct Loan and who are expected to graduate or will not be attending Rollins at least half-time. An exit interview is your opportunity to review the amount of your loans and your rights and responsibilities in repaying these loans.
Borrower's Rights and Responsibilities
If you meet the eligibility requirements, you have a right to repayment deferments, which suspend principal loan payments for specified periods of time.
- Remember that the MPN certifies your loans for the maximum amount you are eligible to borrow. Because you may accrue debt with each year of your education, you should be certain that you need the full amount of your education loan each year. You can decline or reduce your loan amount each year.
- You are required to repay education loans, even if you do not finish your academic program or your academic program does not meet your expectations.
- You are responsible for notifying your school and lender if you have received student loans from more than one lender.
- You must use money received from education loans for education-related expenses only.
- You must notify your lender in writing of:
Name or address changes.
Failure to enroll at Rollins.
Failure to enroll on at least a half-time basis or for the loan period certified.
Withdrawal from school or reduction of attendance to less than half time.
Transfer from one school to another.
Graduation.