Entrance Counseling Questions

The federal government requires you to complete entrance counseling to ensure that you understand the responsibilities and obligations you are assuming.  During entrance counseling, you will learn about the following:

• What a Direct Loan is and how the loan process works
• Managing your education expenses

If you are completing entrance counseling as an undergraduate student, the entrance counseling will fulfill counseling requirements for Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans.  If you are completing entrance counseling as a graduate or professional student, the entrance counseling will fulfill counseling requirements for Direct Unsubsidized and Graduate PLUS loans.

All students taking out Direct Subsidized Loans or Direct Unsubsidized Loans: If you have not previously received a subsidized or unsubsidized loan under the Direct Loan Program or a subsidized or unsubsidized Stafford Loan under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, you’ll be required to complete entrance counseling.

Graduate students taking out Direct PLUS Loans: If you have not previously received a PLUS loan under the Direct Loan Program or the FFEL Program, you’ll be required to complete entrance counseling—even if you previously completed it for a subsidized or unsubsidized loan.

You must complete entrance counseling before your school can make the first disbursement of your loan.

To complete entrance counseling for both the Direct Loan Program (DL) and Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), please sign on to the Federal Student Aid website at www.studentaid.gov.  To log in, you will need an FSA ID Username and Password. You can view and print a PDF copy of the Entrance Counseling Guide for Direct Loan Borrowers if you would like additional information.