If your financial aid award includes a Federal Direct Subsidized and/or Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, you will be required to complete two steps in order to secure your loan(s) and have it be a valid credit against your college charges.  

If you are a parent who has taken out a Federal PLUS loan (Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students) please go to www.studentloans.gov  to fill out an electronic Master Promissory Note. for the Parent PLUS Loan.  Make sure you click on the appropriate section for Parent PLUS Loans. For all other first time borrowers, please read and follow the instructions below.

INSTRUCTIONS: All first time MMA borrowers need to complete a Master Promissory Note and Entrance Counseling.  Go to www.studentloans.gov and click on the green “sign-in” button located in the top left section of the page.  You will need to have your PIN (personal identification number) that you received when you completed a FAFSA online.  If you do not have a PIN, or need to retrieve what the pin is, please visit www.pin.ed.gov. Once your PIN is accepted, you will need to complete:

1.     MASTER PROMISSORY NOTE: Once you have signed in, choose the “Complete Master Promissory Note” option and follow the on screen directions that follow.  This is your promise to repay the Department of Education. Students are allowed to electronically sign their promissory note using a PIN.  Federal Direct Loans are in the student’s name, and therefore must be signed by the student. It is against the law for anyone other than the student to fraudulently sign a Master Promissory Note for that student. Once this note is signed, you will not need to fill it out again while you are a student at MMA. Please contact our office if you have any problems with this process. This is a very important step in securing your loan. Once you have completed it, print out the Master Promissory Note for your records. The Financial Aid Office will receive electronic notification so you do not have to mail the promissory note anywhere.

2.      ENTRANCE COUNSELING: All first time borrowers are required to complete Federal Loan Entrance Counseling. This counseling session can be done online by choosing the “Complete Entrance Counseling” option once you have signed in. Follow the on screen instructions to complete the session.  Entrance counseling will give the student important facts about borrowing Federal Loans.  The Financial Aid Office will receive electronic notification that you have completed Entrance Counseling.

PLEASE NOTE: Federal Loans are unable to be disbursed for the student unless both steps have been completed. Failure to complete these steps could also result in cancelation of your loan.

If you have any problems completing these steps, please contact the MMA Loan Coordinator, Marissa Barros at 508-830-5222 or mbarros@maritime.edu.

last updated 9-18-12 by ckedski@maritime.edu