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Federal Loans

Federal Direct Student Loans are a low-interest form of financial aid to assist students with educational expenses not covered by other grants or scholarships, and who may have decided not to use the Payment Plan. Loans are provided through federal funds, which must be repaid after a student graduates or drops below half-time enrollment (6 credit hours).

Videos

While viewing the below videos, please know that we are a two-year, undergraduate technical college. Information regarding junior, senior, graduate, and professional students does not apply to our college as we are not a four-year college or university. We also do not participate in PLUS loans.

Eligibility

  • The student must complete GNTC admissions requirements, and be officially accepted to GNTC.
  • The student must fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Please visit the How to Apply for Financial Aid page.
  • If selected for verification, the verification process must be completed in full (which can take up to 14 business days after the last document is submitted). View Completing Your File for more verification information. *It is highly recommended that if you plan to request loan funds or think you may request loan funds, you complete your financial aid file in full at least 5 weeks before the Tuition & Fee Deadline.*.
  • The student must be enrolled in an associate’s degree, diploma, or certificate program that is eligible to receive federal aid. If your program is eligible to receive Pell, then if you choose & qualify, you could potentially receive loan funds as well. If you are unsure if your program is eligible for federal aid, check with your Financial Aid Office. 
  • The student must be registered for and maintain enrollment throughout the term in at least 6 credit hours (within his/her program of study and classes coded non-repeat). Dropping or Withdrawing from a class(es) that results in enrollment in less than 6 credit hours will result in ineligibility for loan funds and possible balances due. 
  • The student must be a US citizen or an eligible non-citizen.
    If you are an eligible non-citizen, you must submit a copy of your permanent resident card to the Financial Aid Office. You must be a permanent resident of the United States for at least 24 months before you become eligible for federal loan funds.
  • The student must not owe any repayments on previous grants or scholarships
  • The student must not be in default on a federal loan.
  • The student must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).

Application Process

  • Once the student’s financial aid file is completed, verified (if necessary), and eligibility for standard state aid & federal Pell is determined, then the student may request loan funds in person, by phone, or via email.
  • Students wishing to receive loan funds for a new term and aid year will have to request loan funds each year before each respective term. It is recommended that loan requests be submitted at least 3 weeks before the Tuition & Fee deadline to allow time for processing and the inevitable increase in processing workloads.
  • Summer-term loans are calculated separately from fall/spring loans. Therefore, if you request fall/spring loans and wish to receive loan funds for the summer term, you will need to make another request for the summer term.
  • Student borrowers must complete the mandatory Entrance Counseling (EC) and the Master Promissory Note (MPN). It is also recommended and highly encouraged that the Annual Student Loan Acknowledgement be completed as well. The EC, MPN, and Annual Loan Acknowledgement may be completed online at the Student Aid site
  • After loan funds have been requested and offered on the student account, the student must review and accept the terms and conditions of loan funds. They will then be able to accept the offered loan funds. Both tasks may be completed through the MyGNTC account. Please view Utilizing MyGNTC for instructions on accepting loan funds.

Important Notes

Students must maintain enrollment in at least 6 credit hours (within his/her program of study and classes coded non-repeat)  throughout the term for each respective term they request & are approved for loan funds.

Once set up, the loan must be processed by the federal processing center before it can be applied as a credit toward tuition & fee charges. This processing timeframe can sometimes take 1-2 weeks.

Loans are split into 3 disbursements each term (except for the summer term in which it is split into 2 disbursements). Please note that the disbursement dates are not refund dates. The disbursement dates are the dates the funds are scheduled to disburse/release from the state and federal governments respectively to be sent to the college. If refunds are due from a disbursement after charges are deducted (including anything you may have used in the bookstore as credit), then you will need to allow up to 14 business days from the respective disbursement date for the funds to load in and any refund due from that portion to be processed out to Bank Mobile. View our Disbursement Dates page for more information regarding disbursements. To view more information regarding refunds, view our Refunds - BankMobile page.
 
Please note that if the Payment Plan through Nelnet is set up to cover costs while awaiting loan information to process, it can result in later refunds. This is because funds paid to Nelnet through the payment plan will not officially post (be sent) to our system until later in the term and at some point after the last payment is made to Nelnet. Before that point, the funds display as an electric third-party credit toward charges. 
 

After graduating, dropping below 6 credit hours, or taking a break in enrollment borrowers will be required to complete the mandatory Exit Counseling. If dropping below 6 credit hours of enrollment within a term, you will become ineligible for any remaining disbursements and you will need to be prepared to pay any resulting balance. 

Congress previously passed a law preventing further extension of the COVID Borrower Repayment Pause. Student loan interest resumed back on September 1, 2023, while payments restarted in October 2023.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness: If employed by a U.S. federal, state, local, or tribal government or non-profit organization, you might be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)

As a consumer, you need to be aware that the U.S. Department of Education will post your Federal Direct Loan data on the NSLDS, which is accessible by federal student loan guarantee agencies, lenders, and institutions to which the Department of Education has authorized access to this data system.

Additional Information

How much can I borrow?

What are current interest rates?

What should I consider when requesting?

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