Loans

Loans

NOVA participates in the U.S. Department of Education's Federal Direct Loan Program which offers low interest rates with long repayment terms. NOVA’s loan policies and procedures can be reviewed here.

Information About Federal Direct Loans

All borrowers must be enrolled in and attending at least 6 eligible credits at the time the loan is accepted in SIS and disbursed.

Students must complete both the Master Promissory Note and Entrance Counseling prior to ceasing enrollment in at least 6 eligible credits for the term they wish to borrow if those requirements were not previously completed for NOVA or if they have expired. NOVA does not process paper Master Promissory Notes for Federal Direct Loans.

Borrowers are encouraged to complete an Annual Student Loan Acknowledgment (ASLA) each academic year they borrow a Federal Direct Subsidized Loan or a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan. The ASLA provides information on a borrower’s current federal student loan debt.

Additional information about how to accept loans and complete the Entrance Counseling and Master Promissory Note is provided in the loan tutorial.

To request a Federal Direct PLUS loan, parents need to sign in with their own credentials at https://studentaid.gov. Once logged in, they must fill out two separate documents: the Federal Direct PLUS Loan Application  and the Federal Direct PLUS Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) for Parents.

In addition, parent borrowers are encouraged to complete an Annual Student Loan Acknowledgment each academic year they borrow a Federal Direct PLUS Loan.

When selecting the School and Loan Information, please use Northern Virginia Community College ONLY.

If you have placed a security freeze on your credit file, you must lift or remove the freeze at each credit bureau before you continue. Your application will not be processed if you have a security freeze.

Most federal student loan repayment begins after the borrower stops attending college or drops below 6 credits of enrollment. Loan repayment begins once the loan is fully disbursed.

Contact your loan servicer if you have trouble making your loan payments. You may qualify for deferment, forbearance, or a different repayment plan that can temporarily postpone or reduce the amount you must pay. Your loan servicer can also answer questions about making payments, loan consolidation, and repayment plans.

Log in to the My Federal Student Aid portal to review your loan history and the contact information for your loan servicer. If you need assistance, including help with identifying your loan servicer, please call 1-800-4-FED-AID.

Start planning to repay your student loans with NOVA's Loan Planning form.

In 2018-2019, only 10% of NOVA students accepted student loans.  Our institutional default rates are below the national average for community colleges (2-3 year public schools).  From the Department of Education, for the last three years:

Cohort Fiscal Year Official Default Rate
2020 0
2019 2.4
2018 8.4

You’re not alone when it comes to student loans. NOVA has partnered with Inceptia, a division of the National Student Loan Program (NSLP), to provide you with FREE assistance on your Federal student loan obligations to ensure successful and comfortable loan repayment. Inceptia’s friendly customer representatives may reach out to you if your loan(s) become delinquent. Inceptia is not a collection agency. We’ve partnered with them to help you explore a wide variety of possibilities such as alternative repayment plans, deferment, consolidation, discharge, forgiveness, and forbearance options. Inceptia will stay in touch with you via phone calls, letters, and/or emails to help you find answers to your questions and solutions to your issues. For additional resources including information on repayment options, please visit Inceptia’s Federal Student Loan Overview website at Inceptia.org/FAQ.