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414 E. Clark St.
Vermillion, SD 57069
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Business Office
The Business Office can help you navigate everything from purchasing a parking pass to paying your tuition and fees. Reach out to our office if you have any questions about financial services available to students and departments at USD.
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Federal Perkins Loans & Nursing Loans
The USD Business Office holds the following primary responsibilities:
- Administer and maintain loan documents.
- Ensure compliance with government and University policy and regulations related to these loan programs.
- Oversee the billing and collection in conjunction with our contracted loan service provider, University Account Service (UAS).
- Process Exit Interviews and Deferments.
- Contact the Financial Aid Office at 605-658-6250 about applying and the awarding of financial aid and for more information on student loans.
Borrowers Leaving USD
1. Exit Counseling
All Perkins loan borrowers must complete exit counseling when they do any of the following:
- Graduate from USD
- Drop below six credit hours for the Fall or Spring semester. Graduate students who drop below six credit hours and are enrolled in thesis or dissertation coursework will have their loan deferred. Exit counseling is not required for these students until they stop taking thesis or dissertation coursework
- Transfer to another school
To start exit counseling, go to Perkins Exit Counseling. If you have questions regarding loan repayment or the exit counseling procedure, contact our office.
2. Repayment Information
All Perkins loans must be repaid within ten years. The minimum monthly payment is $40.00; the actual amount the borrower will pay depends on the total amount borrowed. There is no penalty for paying off the loan early. USD uses University Account Service (UAS) as a billing service for Perkins loans. For 24-hour access to loan account information, call 800-999-6227. Please have your account number and your social security number available.
3. Deferment
A deferment allows the borrower to cease making payments on a Perkins loan. Interest on the loan does not accrue during the deferment period. Deferments are available for borrowers who are:
- Enrolled and in attendance as a regular student in at least a half-time course of study in an institution of higher education.
- Enrolled and in attendance as a regular student in an approved fellowship program or approved rehabilitation training program for disabled individuals. (This does not include a medical internship or residency program, except a residency in dentistry.)
- Engaged in services which are eligible for Cancellation benefits.
- Serving in a residency program in dentistry.
4. Forbearance
A forbearance also allows the borrower to cease making payments on a Perkins loan. Interest on the loan accrues during the forbearance period. Borrowers may pay this interest during the forbearance period, or in a lump sum at the end of the forbearance period. Borrowers are eligible for a forbearance if their monthly Title IV loan burden is over 20% of their total monthly gross income, or if they are unemployed and unable to find a job. Borrowers who are unable to make their regular payments due to a disability may also be eligible for either a forbearance or a reduction in their payments. Forbearances are renewable at intervals of up to 12 months for periods that collectively do not exceed three years.
5. Cancellation
Borrowers who perform services in certain occupations may be eligible to have portions of their Perkins loan canceled. Please contact our office if you have been employed in the following occupations after graduation:
- Full-time teacher in an elementary or secondary school with a high concentration of students from low income families
- Full-time special education teacher in an elementary or secondary school
- Full-time teacher in an elementary or secondary school in the fields of mathematics, science, foreign languages, bilingual education, or any other field of expertise that is determined by the State Department of Education to have a shortage of qualified teachers
- Full-time qualified professional provider of early intervention services in a public or nonprofit program
- Full-time law enforcement or corrections officer
- Full-time nurse or medical technician
- Full-time employee of a child or family service agency
- Full-time staff member in the educational component of a Head Start Program Member of the Armed Forces in an area of hostilities
- Volunteer under the Peace Corps Act or Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973.
Deferment:
- You may request to defer the repayment of your loan, which is an interruption of the repayment period.
- If you resume full-time or half-time studies at a nursing school during the grace period, the interrupted grace period is treated as if it did not begin.
- You must notify USD of continued student status by completing a deferment form and sending it to our office every term you are enrolled. During a deferment period on your Nursing Student Loan, interest does not accrue and no payments are required.
- In addition to being responsible for requesting deferments and submitting the necessary documentation, the borrower must contact USD when enrollment is completed or terminated.
- To apply for a deferment you must contact our office.
Deferment Types:
- Active duty as a member of a uniformed service (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps, or the U S Public Health Service Commissioned Corps) are eligible for deferment for up to three years.
- Volunteers under the Peace Corps Act are eligible for deferment for up to three years. Service in VISTA does not qualify for deferment.
- NSL borrowers who have entered repayment may receive additional deferments for up to ten years for full-time or half-time enrollment in a collegiate nursing school. The program must lead to a baccalaureate or a graduate degree in nursing.
- You may be eligible for an additional ten-year deferment if you pursue advanced training in nursing or training to become a nurse anesthetist. Advanced training is training beyond your first diploma or degree in nursing.
Forbearance:
- Due to extraordinary circumstance the borrower may apply for forbearance. This has the effect of temporarily suspending payment of principal, however, interest continues to accrue. Extraordinary circumstances include unemployment, poor health or other personal problems that have a short-term impact on the borrower's ability to make payments.
- Periods of forbearance must be counted as part of the borrower's ten-year repayment period.
Cancellation:
- Nursing Student loans may be canceled due to death or permanent and total disability of the borrower.
Questions:
Loan Department
414 East Clark Street
Slagle Hall - Room 207
Vermillion, SD 57069
Phone: 605-677-6620
Fax: 605-677-5055
Email: loandept@usd.edu