Additional Resources

For a list of answers to common questions students have about the financial aid process, please refer to our FAQ page.

Financial Aid Glossary

To help you better understand the financial aid process, we have provided a list of definitions of the most commonly used financial Aid terms. For a full list of terms see the United States Department of Education glossary.

Academic Year: The period of time beginning at the start of the fall semester and ending at the end of the spring semester (mid-August to mid-May). At Chicago-Kent College, our summer semester is the trailing or ending term of the standard (fall/spring) academic year. In other words, if you are enrolled in and receive financial aid for the summer semester, that semester is a part of the standard academic year belonging to the preceding fall and spring semesters.

Accrued Interest: The addition of daily interest calculated on the unpaid principle balance of the loan. Depending upon the type of loan, this interest is payable by the borrower. Loans that accrue interest are the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford, Federal Graduate PLUS Loan and Private Loan.

Annual Percentage Rate (APR): A percentage calculation that reflects the total costs of a loan (interest plus all fees) on an annual basis.

Billable Expenses: Direct expenses that are billable to the university and charged to your student account. Tuition and Fees are examples of billable expenses.

Borrower: Anyone who obtains money from a lender. The borrower signs a Loan Agreement or Master Promissory Note (MPN), which serves as the formal promise to repay the loan.

Capitalizing: A process where a lender adds any unpaid interest to the principal of the loan, thereby increasing the balance due and the monthly payment of your loan.

Cost of Attendance (COA): Your Cost of Attendance (or COA) is your student budget for the standard academic year and includes the budget components of Tuition and Fees (Billable Expenses), Room & Board, Books, Transportation and Personal Expenses (Non-Billable Expenses). We determine your COA based on your program. Each budget component is a maximum estimated amount (based on data we've collected) of what a student may spend throughout the nine-month academic year. A student's total financial aid package, including scholarships, loans, and any other financial aid resources, may not exceed the Cost of Attendance Budget, as determined by the Office of Financial Aid. 

Consolidation: A process where a company will combine all outstanding federal student loans into a new loan.

Credit History: A credit history is a summary of your financial strength, including your history of paying bills and your ability to repay future loans. To qualify for a Federal Graduate PLUS Loan, you cannot have an adverse credit history as your acceptance of the Graduate PLUS Loan authorizes the federal government to run a credit check.

Default: The failure of a borrower to make federal student loan payments when due or to comply with other terms under a Loan Agreement or Master Promissory Note (MPN).

Deferment: A period of time during which the repayment of the principal amount of the loan is suspended as a result of the borrower meeting one of the requirements established by law and/or contained in the Loan Agreement or Master Promissory Note (MPN). During this period, borrowers may not have to pay interest on the loan.

Delinquent Borrower: A borrower who has failed to make one or more loan installments on their due date. Once a loan is delinquent for a certain period of time, it becomes at risk of going into default.

Disclosure Statement: A statement of the actual loan costs, including the interest rate and any additional fees. This statement must be presented to the borrower on or before the date the money is sent out by the lender.

Federal Direct Loan Program: Also referred to as Direct Loans. As of July 1, 2010, all federal student loans come directly from the U.S. Department of Education under the Direct Loan Program. 

Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan: A federal government-supported educational loan in which the student is responsible for all of the interest that accrues on the loan. There is a fixed interest rate charged to the loan. The student may either pay the interest while in school or have it accrue and capitalize on the principal. See our website page called Interest Rates for current rates. In addition there is a loan origination fee charged on each student loan after it is processed so that the amount borrowed is the Gross amount and the amount that is applied to your student account is the Net amount. Visit our webpage – Loan Origination Fees for more information.

Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan: A federal government-supported educational loan that is credit based. You must first apply for your maximum loan eligibility through the Direct Unsubsidized Loan before the PLUS Loan can be awarded. There is a fixed interest rate that begins to accrue as soon as the loan is disbursed to the school. Repayment of the principal begins immediately, but is deferred by Direct Loans if a student also has a Federal Unsubsidized Loan, repayment is coordinated to match the 6-month grace period of the Federal Unsubsidized Loan. Interest Rates and Loan Origination Fees apply for this type of student loan as well.

Forbearance: A temporary cessation of loan payments; an extension of time for making payments; or and acceptance of smaller payments than were previously scheduled. Forbearance may be given for circumstances that are not covered by deferment, such as hospitalization or short-term unemployment, that adversely affect the borrower's ability to meet loan payment obligations.

Grace Period: A period of 6 months after a student graduates or ceases to be enrolled at least half time. After 6 months, the student goes into repayment. Loan payments do not have to be made by the student during the grace period. However, interest will continue to accrue on loans that are not subsidized.

Loan Agreement: Also commonly referred to as a Master Promissory Note (MPN). A legal document signed by the borrower when obtaining a loan. This agreement or MPN lists the conditions under which the loan is made and the terms under which the borrower agrees to pay back the loan. As a first-time borrower of federal student loans at Chicago-Kent, you will want to complete the MPN for both the Federal Unsubsidized Loan and the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan. You can complete these both online by visiting studentaid.gov/mpn/. Typically, the MPN completion of the Federal Unsubsidized Loan is a one-time requirement which should remain valid for 10 years. However, for the Graduate PLUS Loan, a new Master Promissory Note may be required each academic year and sometimes, for each individual Graduate PLUS Loan you borrow, as this is a credit-based educational loan. When completing the MPN(s), if Chicago-Kent College is not a choice, you will want to be sure you enter Illinois Institute of Technology - Downtown Campus. (001691-01). 

Loan Period: The academic year or portion thereof for which the applicant is enrolled and is seeking one or more loans.

Master Promissory Note (MPN): See Loan Agreement 

Negative Amortization: Negative amortization means that even when you pay your minimum payment, because you are not paying the interest, the amount you owe will still go up.

Non-Billable Expenses: Indirect expenses that are not payable to the university. Non-Billable Expenses include Cost of Attendance budget components of Room and Board, Books, Transportation and Miscellaneous or Personal Expenses.

Origination Fee: A processing fee calculated on the amount borrowed and charged to the student by the Department of Education. This fee is deducted from the amount of the loan proceeds you accept on the Illinois Tech Portal. Students are urged to take this into account, especially when borrowing a Federal Unsubsidized and/or Federal Graduate PLUS Loan. For more information see our Loan Origination Fee webpage.

Principal and Interest: Principal refers to the total amount borrowed plus any capitalized fees and interest. Interest refers to the amount charged for the use of the money over time, and is usually stated as an annual percentage of the principal amount.

Repayment Schedule: A plan which calculates the principal and interest due in each installment, number of payments required to pay the loan in full, the interest rate, and the due dates of the first and subsequent payments.

Servicer: The Department of Education, private lenders and secondary markets hire companies that specialize in student loans to handle billing, collections, deferments, etc. These organizations are called "servicers" since they service the loans for the lenders.

Securing Your Sensitive Documents

Encrypting or password protecting your files is a method of securing your information to ensure that only individuals with authorization are able to view and/or edit files.

These instructions outline how to secure word documents in Microsoft Word and PDF files in Adobe Acrobat. Please note: This guide uses the most current version of each program; using different program versions might affect instructions.

When sending documents to the Office of Financial Aid at Chicago-Kent College of Law, please remember:

• Choose a strong password by using a mixture of characters, numbers, upper-case, and special characters.
• Remember your password! Forgetting or losing your password will affect your ability to access your file.
• When sharing your document, please include the password in a separate email.

Password Protect a Microsoft Word Document

1. Open your document. Locate and select “File” on the upper left hand corner. Click “Protect Document” then select “Encrypt with Password”.

2. A dialogue box will appear when you select “Encrypt with Password”. Create a password and click “OK”. Re-enter your password on the next screen to confirm encryption.

3. To confirm that your password was recorded, save the document, exit the document, then re-open the document. When you try to open the protected document, a dialogue box will appear and ask you to enter your password.
4. When submitting documents to the Office of Financial Aid at Chicago-Kent College of Law, send your password protected document in one email, and your password in a separate email.

Password Protect a PDF Document

1. Open your PDF document and locate the “Secure” icon and select “Encrypt with Password”.

2. A dialogue box will appear asking you if you are sure you would like to change the security on this document.
3. Click “Yes”.

4. A “Password Security” dialogue box will appear. Check the “Require a password to open the document” box and type a password. Click “OK.”

5. Once you have created a password, a new dialogue box will prompt you to retype your password. Re-type your password and click “OK.”

6. Document encryption will not occur until you re-save your document. Please click on the “Save” icon in the upper left of your document to complete encryption.

7. To confirm that your password was recorded, exit the document, then re-open the document. When you try to open the protected document, a dialogue box will appear and ask you to enter your password.
8. When submitting documents to the Office of Financial Aid at Chicago-Kent College of Law, send your password protected document in one email, and your password in a separate email.

Financial Literacy