Metadata
Title
Loan Options
Category
general
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c6f2ff6192274d01baf4f2df946cf2b7
Source URL
https://sfs.jhu.edu/types-of-aid/loan-options/
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https://sfs.jhu.edu/
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2026-03-10T04:05:25+00:00
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Loan Options

Source: https://sfs.jhu.edu/types-of-aid/loan-options/ Parent: https://sfs.jhu.edu/

We make every attempt to meet your and your family’s needs without student loans.

If you decide to use loans to pay for college costs, consider these options first. Remember, loans are a form of financial aid that must be paid back to the lender, and rates and payment terms can vary.

Loan Options & Additional Information

Federal Student Loans

Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Student Loans

The Direct Subsidized Student Loan is need-based, so your family contribution is used to determine eligibility. The federal government subsidizes the loan by paying the interest while you are in school.

The Direct Unsubsidized Student Loan is not based on financial need, although you still need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to obtain the loan. After the first disbursement, interest begins accruing on the unsubsidized Federal Direct Student Loan. While enrolled in school, you and your family may choose to pay all, part, or no interest at all. We encourage you to make interest payments while in school, if possible.

Interest rate information and repayment terms:

How to Request

  1. Log in to your Hopkins SIS account at sis.jhu.edu.
  2. Select the “Financial Aid” tab.
  3. Then “Online Forms.”
  4. Select FA-Loan Action Form.
  5. Your name, date of birth, email, and phone should populate automatically. After selecting the correct year and confirming your academic level, indicate the type of request and enter the required amounts.
  6. Complete the form, enter your electronic signature, and Submit.

You will receive an email when your offer is updated. Please allow our office five to ten business days to process loan requests. If you need help, please contact Student Financial Support.

Annual Amounts

Undergraduate students have different annual federal direct loan eligibilities based on their year of enrollment and dependency status. Annual Loan Amounts and more information on Federal Direct Loans can be found on the following website: https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized.

Undergraduate Dependent Students

First-Year: $3,500 subsidized, $2,000 unsubsidized

Sophomore: $4,500 subsidized, $2,000 unsubsidized

Junior-Year & Beyond: $5,500 subsidized, $2,000 unsubsidized

Undergraduate Independent Students or Dependent Students with Parent PLUS Loan Denial

First-Year: $3,500 subsidized, $6,000 unsubsidized

Sophomore: $4,500 subsidized, $6,000 unsubsidized

Junior-Year & Beyond: $5,500 subsidized, $7,000 unsubsidized

Federal Parent PLUS Loans

Federal Direct Parent PLUS loans are federally guaranteed loans available to parents of undergraduates. There is no financial need requirement to receive these loans. You do not need to contact a lender—these loans are made directly with the U.S. Department of Education.

Borrower Eligibility

Borrowers apply for the Parent PLUS loan for each academic year individually. Multi-year loans may be consolidated at a later date. Parents will be capped at $20,000 per year and $65,000 lifetime in PLUS borrowing per student. Borrowers are encouraged to apply for the amount needed for the entire year, not semester by semester.

Loan Terms and Disbursement

How to Apply

Find out more by watching this educational video about Parent PLUS loans.

Private Loans

Supplemental private loans may be used in addition to federal funds. Johns Hopkins University recommends that you exhaust your eligibility for federal loans before considering private loan programs. If you are uncertain about your eligibility for federal loans, please contact the financial aid office before applying for private loans.

State Educational Loan Programs

Some states offer educational loan programs to residents of that state with interest rates and repayment terms equal to or better than the federal student and parent loans. We recommend that you and your family check with your state higher education agencies about the availability of these loans.

Private Banks

Private banks also offer loan programs for educational costs. For most of these loans, you (the student) are the borrower with your parents as a co-signer. Interest rates generally are variable.

For state or private loans, the borrowing limit is the total cost of education for the academic year (as defined by Hopkins) minus any financial aid. The University does not endorse or recommend any lender, nor does the University have any financial interest in any lending institution.

You and your family have the right to select the educational loan provider of your choice. If you want to learn more about supplemental loan funding, please review ELM Select. Johns Hopkins provides access to this interactive tool to help you and your family better understand your private loan options.

Find out more by watching this educational video about private loans.

Questions to Ask a Private Lender

From the Project on Student Debt

First-Time Borrower Information

Loan Requirements

If you are a new Direct Student Loan borrower, you must sign a master promissory note (MPN) and complete online Entrance Counseling. Make sure to have your FSA ID available to complete these steps.

  1. You will receive an email notification informing you when to sign your MPN and complete your Entrance Counseling.
  2. Sign in to the Federal Student Loans website with your FSA ID and other identifying information.
  3. You will see options to “Complete Master Promissory Note” and “Complete Entrance Counseling.” Remember to complete both.
  4. Select Subsidized/Unsubsidized for the loan type.
  5. Select “JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV – ASEN” when asked to provide the name of your school. Johns Hopkins has multiple campuses, and it is essential that you select Johns Hopkins – ASEN as the school to receive your information.
  6. Follow the instructions and remember to save a copy of the MPN for your records.

The MPN is valid for ten years of consecutive borrowing at Hopkins. The loan proceeds will be credited to your student account ten days before the semester starts.

Additional Resources

Watch Loan Entrance & Master Promissory Note (MPN) Tutorials

Repayment and Additional Resources

Repayment

The Direct Student Loan Program simplifies the application process for students and provides quicker access to loan funds. Loan repayment allows more options for repaying the loan through extended, graduated, and income-based plans. Loan repayment information will be sent with the promissory note at the time of repayment. Loan repayment information, as well as interactive calculators, are available to help you plan for repayment.

When do I have to start making loan payments?

If your loan payments were paused, you will need to begin making payments again. If you just graduated in May, your repayment begins after your 6-month grace period is over (if you didn’t use it before graduation) around mid-November.

What is a loan servicer and how do I find mine?

Even though you technically borrowed from the federal government, they are not the ones managing your loans—they outsource the responsibility to individual servicers: companies that handle the payments, communication, and record-keeping.

You should have received an email from your servicer if you’re heading into repayment. The message should have included details on how to set up an account. If you didn’t get an email? Log into https://studentaid.gov . Your dashboard will list your servicer and include a link to their website. Or you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243 to find out who your servicer is\ and how to get in touch with them.

If you have multiple loans, it’s possible that you have more than one servicer. If this is the case, you should have been contacted by each servicer, and you will need to make payments to each of your servicers every month.

How does Public Service Loan Forgiveness work?

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) allows borrowers who meet certain criteria to have their federal student loan debt forgiven after ten years of eligible service and 120 qualifying payments on certain repayment plans. More information on PSLF can be found on the Federal Student Aid website.

What kind of repayment plans are there?

There are 3 kinds of repayment plans:

What if I am in default or behind on my payments?

How do I avoid Student Loan Debt Relief scams?

Federal Student Aid (FSA) continues to warn borrowers about student loan scams. With so many recent efforts to create new programs that provide debt relief, even savvy borrowers might find it hard to tell the difference between a scam and legitimate forgiveness and relief efforts.

Beware of any source that is not directing you to FSA or your loan servicer.

Questions about Student Loan Repayment?

Student Connections is passionate about helping students. They partner with schools to provide support for borrowers throughout the student loan repayment process. With more than 60 years of experience in counseling student loan borrowers, their primary goal is to help you find the repayment plan that best fits your needs.

While you are in student loan repayment, Student Connections may contact you through emails, text messages and phone calls to:

Talk to a Borrower Advocate for free at (866) 311-9450. They’re available to answer questions about your outstanding loans and will work directly with you and your loan servicer when appropriate.

Additional Resources

Additional Federal Direct Loan information:

Five Important Things About Repaying Your Student Loans

Enhanced Loan Counseling

Receive individual counseling and resources to reduce loan debt.

Enhanced Loan Counseling

Loan Action

Adjust an existing loan or request additional loan funding.

Loan Action Form

Looking to Learn More?

Take advantage of your free access to iGrad, our personal finance platform, and explore additional loan topics, tools, and resources.