Graduate PLUS Loan Entrance Couseling
You have been directed here because you have accepted an offer of a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan. In order to meet the requirements for the loan, you must complete specific entrance counseling.
UC will be notified of your Grad PLUS counseling completion within 2 days of completing it. Once we have been notified, your record will be updated, you will no longer receive the link on your award offer, and your loan will be ready for disbursement (assuming the master promissory note is also complete) based on the terms of your loan.
Completing the Grad PLUS Counseling Requirement
The U.S. Department of Education requires all new Federal Subsidized, Unsubsidized and Graduate PLUS Loan borrowers to complete loan entrance counseling. The online tool will walk you through the basics of the loan and your responsibilities for borrowing under the Federal Direct Loan program.
If you are going to be a new student loan borrower at UC within the next six months or you are borrowing the Graduate PLUS Loan for the first time, please complete the appropriate loan counseling now.
Failure to complete this requirement by the time your classes begin will result in your loan funds being delayed.
Loan counseling takes 20-30 minutes to complete, and UC will receive record of your successful completion within 2 business days.
- Continue to Loan Entrance Counseling for Federal Direct Loans and use the "log in" button on the Department of Education Website.
NOTE: Financial Awareness Counseling on the same Website, while a helpful tool with valuable information, is NOT the same as required Loan Entrance Counseling. Be sure to select the appropriate counseling session.
Upon leaving UC, student loan borrowers will also need to complete loan exit counseling.
While this requirement is only for new UC student or Grad PLUS loan borrowers, students who have borrowed previously are free to complete loan counseling as a refresher in understanding loan borrowing.