AJR is authorized to administer Federal Student Aid to eligible students!

AJR is now able to facilitate Federal Direct Loans in the form of Direct Unsubsidized Loans on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education (ED). This link has valuable information published by ED about Federal Student Aid including Direct Student Loans.

Interest begins to accrue as soon as you receive your loan and you are ultimately responsible to pay that interest. Repayment of principal and interest begins six months after your studies have ended but you can pay the interest while you are still in school if you choose. The current fixed interest rate for graduate students for Federal Direct Loans (unsubsidized only) is 7.05%. For those who may have loans from undergraduate study, it may be helpful to know that the Federal Direct Loan interest rate for undergraduate students, whether subsidized or unsubsidized, is fixed at 5.50%. If you have loans beginning prior to July 1, 2018, other rates may apply. Students may choose to pay the interest that accumulates or have it capitalized – meaning, the interest will be added to the principal amount of your loan and additional interest will be based upon the higher amount. Paying the interest as it accumulates will reduce the amount of interest that must be repaid.

Please note that for any student who takes out an FSA loan, the loan information will be submitted to NSLDS and accessible by authorized agencies, lenders, and institutions.

The Federal government requires that in order to qualify for a Federal Direct Loan, you must:

  • Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident of the United States.
  • Be matriculated into one of AJR’s accredited programs and pursuing a degree.
  • Be enrolled in that program half time or more – At AJR this means four (4) credits.
  • Not be in default on a prior Federal loan.
  • Have no recent Federal drug convictions.
  • If male and born after 1959, have registered for the draft.

In addition to these requirements, students are also responsible for completing and submitting all relevant forms accurately and by the published deadlines; submitting information requested by the Financial Office in a timely manner; informing AJR of a change in address, name, marital status, financial situation, or other status change in a timely fashion; and informing the Financial Office of any other financial assistance from outside of AJR as soon as a student becomes aware of this additional funding.

If AJR believes that there may have been misrepresentation, false information, or altered documents submitted that may have impacted the awarding or disbursement of Federal Student Aid, this may result in disciplinary action – such as refusal to originate funds, cancelling of financial aid, and/or refusal to originate future financial aid. All cases of fraud will be reported to the proper authorities. AJR reserves the right to refuse to originate a loan on a case by case basis, but not on the basis of race, sex, color, income, religion, national origin, age, or handicapped status. If AJR refuses to originate a loan, AJR will document the reason and provide a written explanation to the student in a timely fashion.

The first step in applying for a Direct Unsubsidized Loan is filling out and submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) found here.

This is the standard application used to apply for any type of Federal financial aid including loans. Data you enter in your FAFSA is processed by ED and the results are returned to AJR. If you apply for financial aid in the form of a tuition reduction from AJR, you must accept your award in order for AJR to calculate your loan. Your AJR tuition reduction affects your Federal Aid. 

Once you submit your FAFSA and AJR receives the results, we will send you an email from inside Populi which will describe your Federal aid offer and any additional steps you must take, like accepting your loan and signing your promissory note. These steps must be completed before your loan is disbursed. You cannot receive a Federal loan without submitting your FAFSA.

When you fill out your FAFSA, please be sure to select Academy for Jewish Religion in Yonkers, which may be listed without the word “the” in AJR’s name. AJR’s school code is 042936. If you do not select the correct school, your information will not be sent to AJR and we cannot disburse a loan to you. If you find that you need assistance filling out your FAFSA, please contact ED directly. A link to ED’s contact information is below.

Here are ED’s instructions on adding a school after submitting your FAFSA.

ED’s contact information can be found here. 

Entrance Counseling

If this is your first time ever receiving Federal Student Aid, you will be required to do entrance counseling. This counseling is done online through the Department of Education. Borrowers are only required to do this counseling once in their lifetime. Entrance Counseling can be completed here.

Occasionally, ED flags some students for data verification. If you are flagged for verification, AJR may reach out to you for additional information. Loans cannot be disbursed until after verification is complete.

In order to be eligible for financial aid in a given trimester, students must meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), as determined by both quantitative and qualitative standards. Please see AJR’s Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy for information regarding requirements, consequences for failing to meet SAP standards, and an appeal process. Students should pay particular attention to the fact that incompletes and withdrawals are taken into account when determining if students are meeting SAP standards. Students should work to ensure that all incompletes are completed in a timely fashion and that they minimize the number of withdrawals after the add/drop date for each trimester.

AJR establishes a Cost of Attendance (COA) which includes tuition and other charges as well as reasonable estimates about other student expenses like books and supplies. If eligible, AJR students can borrow up to the Federally established annual maximum of $20,500 in unsubsidized loans each year and no more than half the annual total (i.e. $10,250) may be disbursed in a single term. Students cannot borrow more than the COA and so, the lower of the COA and the Federally-established annual maximum minus any other aid will be disbursed.

After Federal aid is disbursed for the Fall and Spring terms, if you have not yet borrowed the annual maximum amount, you may borrow enough during the Summer to reach the annual maximum of $20,500. However, your loan for any individual term cannot exceed $10,250 and will be the lower of $10,250 and the COA. Additionally, you cannot borrow more than the total aggregate lifetime limit (see below).

Click here to see how aid amounts are calculated.

Total Aggregate Loan Limit

AJR is classified as a graduate school. Graduate students may borrow up to a lifetime aggregate limit of $138,500 which includes undergraduate and graduate borrowing together.

You can see how much you already owe by visiting http://www.studentaid.gov and logging in with your FSA ID.

If you are a matriculated student, already have Federal student loans, and are taking a minimum of four (4) credits, you are now eligible for an in-school deferment. This means that you do not have to make payments on your existing loans while you are enrolled. AJR’s registrar, Linda Ripps, can assist you with submitting your deferment request. Click here for the deferment request form.

Exciting Other Benefits – Even If You Don’t Ever Take a Loan

Whether or not you take a Federal loan, AJR will now be able to provide a form 1098-T. Speak to your tax preparer or financial professional to determine if and how you might reduce your tax liability through education credits or other deductions. Education expenses and interest paid on student loans may be deductible to you.

For students receiving Federal Student Aid, disbursement begins with the Registrar drawing down the relevant funds from the government G5 website. Assuming that students have fulfilled all of their Title IV loan requirements (including loan counseling if applicable), the funds may be disbursed to the students by the Registrar within three (3) calendar days of the drawdown of funds (or returned to G5 on the third day if AJR is not able to disburse funds to student accounts in that time frame).  The Registrar posts Direct Loan funds to student accounts within three (3) calendar days of drawing down the funds from G5. Funds that are used to cover institutional charges are transferred to AJR’s regular bank account and credited to students’ accounts in Populi. Funds beyond institutional charges are disbursed to students directly by paper check or direct bank deposit within 14 days from the date of the loan disbursement. If a student wishes to apply some of their excess funds (i.e., funds beyond institutional charges for the term) to cover a prior balance (of not more than $200) or to be held for the subsequent term, they must submit a request in writing to the Director of Financial Aid within 3 days of the loan disbursement. The Director of Financial Aid will maintain a written record of these student requests.

You may have read a lot about student loan forgiveness in the news. The Supreme Court issued a decision blocking ED from moving forward with a one-time student debt relief plan. Visit https://www.StudentAid.gov/debtrelief to learn more about the actions President Biden announced following the decision and find out how this decision impacts you.

This decision does not impact the Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program which has been in effect since 2007. The PSLF allows employees in a number of professions to seek loan forgiveness after ten years of on-time loan payments while working in those professions. Employees of nonprofits organized under section 501(C)3 of the IRS code, which may include a house of worship, are eligible. You may wish to consider this as you decide whether or not to apply for a Federal loan.

Click here for more details about the PSLF.

Students who wish to withdraw from AJR should write a letter to the Academic Dean or the AJR office stating that they are withdrawing from their AJR program. If a student does not formally indicate intention of withdrawing, then AJR will determine the date on which the student began the withdrawal process. As all AJR instructors are required to take attendance, the beginning of the withdrawal process is usually based upon the date AJR became aware the that student ceased attending classes (i.e., the date of the last session attended). However, if a student attended an official AJR event after the last class session they attended, the date of the official AJR event will serve as their date of withdrawal. Students who do not register for classes or Maintain Matriculation will be considered withdrawn as of the end of the last trimester in which they took classes or registered for Maintain Matriculation. See the Academic Catalog, Section IV:Q. In order to ensure that Title IV funds are returned within the required period of time, AJR will determine the withdrawal date within 30 calendar days of the end of the payment period.

Students who cancel registration for one or more (non-intersession) course prior to the first day of classes are entitled to a refund of 95% of that trimester’s tuition for the cancelled course(s); students who withdraw within two weeks after the first day of classes are entitled to a refund of 80% of that trimester’s tuition; students who withdraw within three weeks after the first day of classes are entitled to a refund of 60% of that trimester’s tuition. No refunds will be made after the first four weeks of classes. Please note that the Registration Fee ($235) as well as credit card or bank fees are non-refundable. Students who cancel registration of an intersession course prior to the start of the first day of the course are entitled to a refund of 95% of the course. Once a course has started, students must withdraw from the course, and request a partial refund by 11:59 pm of the first day of the course. Given the condensed nature of intersession courses, students who withdraw from an intersession course once it has begun are entitled to a 15% refund for a two-day intersession course, and a 25% refund for a four-day course. See the Academic Catalog, Section X:G.

When a student who has been approved for a Federal Student loan changes their registration for one or more courses prior to disbursal of the loan, this impacts their COA, loan amount, and potentially their loan eligibility. If, after changing registration for one or more courses, the student is no longer taking a half-time course load (i.e., 4 credits), then they are no longer eligible for a Federal Student loan.  If, after changing registration for one or more courses, the student is still taking a half-time course load (i.e., 4 credits), then their loan amount will be adjusted according to their new COA – as determined by their tuition package.

When a student who has been approved for a Federal Student loan changes their registration for one or more courses after disbursal of the loan, but they are still enrolled, this does not affect their COA or their loan amount. However, it is important to note that courses dropped after the add/drop date will be considered “Withdrawn” and will impact the student’s rate of progress for their SAP – which might impact their future Federal Student Aid eligibility. If the student withdraws from all courses after the start of classes, the funds will need to be returned according to the Return to Title IV (R2T4) Policy.

FSA required exit counseling should be completed prior to dropping to less than half-time enrollment, graduating, or otherwise leaving AJR. If a student drops to less than half-time enrollment, graduates, or leaves AJR without completing exit counseling, then their transcript will be locked and, if applicable, their diploma and/or ordination certificate will be withheld until exit counseling is completed. Exit counseling can be comleted HERE.

If a student officially withdraws from AJR or drops all of their courses after the beginning of the trimester (see the previous section) then the Federal Student Aid funds must be returned. There are five steps in the Return to Title IV (R2T4) process:

  1. Determining the date of withdrawal

See above regarding the calculation of the date of withdrawal.

  1. Determining the percentage of the enrollment period completed

The percentage of the enrollment period completed is equal to the number of calendar days completed by the student in the enrollment period divided by the total number of calendar days in the enrollment period. The total number of calendar days in the enrollment period includes weekends but excludes breaks of at least five consecutive days in which there are no AJR classes or events.

  1. Determining the amount of Title IV funds earned and the amount unearned

If the percentage of the enrollment period completed is equal to, or greater than, 60%, then the student has earned 100% of the Federal Student Aid funds disbursed for that trimester. If the percentage of the enrollment period completed is less than 60%, then the amount of Federal Student Aid funding the student has earned is calculated by using the federally mandated calculation. The percentage resulting from this calculation is applied to the student’s total amount of disbursable Title IV funds for the trimester. The amount of unearned funds is determined by subtracting the amount of Federal Student Aid funds earned from the total amount of disbursable Federal Student Aid funds.

  1. Allocating the unearned aid

When a return of Federal Student Aid funds is due, AJR and the student may both have a responsibility for returning funds. AJR is required to return the lesser of: The total amount of Federal Student Aid funds the student has not earned or an amount equal to the institutional charges (i.e., tuition and fees) if the total amount to be returned exceeds the institutional charges incurred by the student. In the event that the total amount to be returned exceeds the institutional charges incurred by the student, then 1) AJR will return any unearned Federal Student Aid  funds that exceed the institutional charges that students have not received on behalf of the student; and 2) the student is responsible for returning all unearned Title IV funds that they have received beyond the amount of the institutional charges returned by AJR. Unearned Federal Student Aid funds that AJR is responsible for returning will be returned within 45 days of the student’s date of withdrawal. Unsubsidized Direct Loans will be returned before Direct PLUS Loans.

As per AJR’s refund policy (see above and in the Academic Catalog, Section X:G), depending on when a student withdraws from a course they may owe different percentages of tuition to AJR. If after returning Federal Student Aid funds a portion of tuition is still owed to AJR, the student is solely responsible for paying the remaining balance.

  1. Communicating the return of funds

Once AJR has determined the amount of funds to be returned to Title IV, and the amount for which AJR and the student are each responsible for returning, the Director of Financial Aid will communicate this information (including details regarding funds already returned by AJR) to the student using the email address that the school has on record for the student.