Federal Direct Loan Disbursement Procedures
Once the loan(s) have been approved, the Federal Direct Student loan(s) will be available for disbursement, no earlier than 10 days before the start of the term. Funds will be released only after enrollment and satisfactory academic progress have been verified.
These funds are normally payable in two equal disbursements minus the origination fee. The first half will be disbursement on the first day of the fall semester; the second half will be disbursement on the first day of the spring semester. Any delay created by missing requirements for the loan process or documents required by the Office of Financial Aid will result in a delay in the disbursement of a student’s aid.
Disclosure statements regarding loan amounts, deducted fees and funds transferred will be sent to students by the Department of Education by email and mail.
The loan funds will disburse directly to the Student Accounts Office within three business days of receipt from the Federal Government, where the funds will be applied directly towards a student’s balance. Federal Direct loans will not be officially deducted from a student’s billable charges until the loan has disbursed.
- If a student’s billable charges have already been paid in full and the loan creates a credit balance, the Student Accounts Office will issue a refund to the student or the student can request through the Student Accounts Office that the credit be applied towards the upcoming spring semester.
Muhlenberg Student Accounts Office will mail a notification letter to the student's permanent mailing address on file, when funds are credited to their account. The notification will indicate the type of loan, amount(s) and that the student has the right to cancel the loan within 14 days of receiving the notification letter.
Loan Cancellation
Students have the right to cancel all or part of their Federal Direct Loan disbursement for the award year or for each semester.
Students can do this two ways:
- When accepting their financial aid offer on their financial aid portal they have the option to accept, reduce, or decline each loan.
- Students can email the Office of Financial Aid at [email protected] to request that our office declines or reduces the loan(s) on their behalf. We will need this request in writing.
The request to cancel loan(s) needs to be completed prior to 10 days before the start of classes. Once the loan has been disbursed for the term, you must follow the procedures described below.
Cancellation Request After Disbursement
If a student’s Federal Direct Loan(s) have disbursed but they wish to cancel the loan(s), they must submit a written request to the Office of Financial Aid within 14 days from the date they received official notification from our Controller’s Office that loan funds have credited to the student’s account, or before the first day of classes, whichever occurs last.
- A written request may be submitted by e-mail from the student’s Muhlenberg College email account, handwritten, typed or printed statement bearing an original signature submitted by mail, in person or by fax.
- No interest will be charged and loan fees will be returned to the loan holder.
- Cancelling your loan disbursement could cause a balance to be due which the student will be responsible for paying.
- This is especially true if the student has received a bookstore voucher or a refund due to excess funds (credit balance) on their account.
The Office of Financial Aid is unable to cancel loans that have been disbursement and the designated time period described above has already passed. However, students can repay the loan disbursement directly by contacting the loan lender. In this case the student will be responsible for any interest that has accrued and the origination fee.
