Changes In Financial Aid Processing
The law school has been notified by the Financial Aid Office that there are a number of changes being made this summer that will affect your Federal Student Aid at Washburn University for the 2008-2009 school year.
Legislation was recently signed into law changing the annual and aggregate loan limits for undergraduate students (which also affects certain law students based on their undergraduate student loans.) Washburn's software provider is working to change the financial aid software to accommodate the change. Until these changes are implemented, the Financial Aid Office here will be unable to process any new awards for students. This will cause a delay in new award notices and will require the reprocessing of existing 2008-2009 awards.
Additionally, beginning this fall, Washburn is changing from the FFEL Program to the Federal Direct Loan program because of the increasingly unstable outlook for private lenders in the student loan market. Due to this change, all students, both continuing and new, must complete a new Master Promissory Note(s) with the Federal Direct Loan program in order to receive Stafford or PLUS loan funds.
Effect on Entering Law Students: The financial aid awarding process has been suspended until these changes can be made. New award letters will be issued to those who have already received award letters. The amount of the awards will not change; only the loan program is changing. Those who have not received award letters will receive one when the details of the program are finalized.
The Financial Aid Office and the software developer are working diligently to make certain these changes are in place as soon as possible so there is not a delay in the disbursement of your aid. We encourage you to watch for updates as they become available. We understand that in the upcoming weeks the Financial Aid Office will be sending additional information regarding this change and the steps you will need to take in order to secure your Federal Student Aid for the upcoming school year. The Financial Aid Office's official means of communication regarding all financial aid matters is through MyWashburn. If you do not have access to My Washburn, please go to http://my.washburn.edu and select the "Retrieve Account Information (First time users only)" under "Need a login?" to to activate your account.
Please direct any questions regarding federal financial aid to the Washburn University Financial Aid Office at 785-670-1151 or 800-524-8447.
Specific loan questions may be directed to Jennifer Hill, jennifer.hill1 [at] washburn.edu.
