Financial Aid
Important Loan Information
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Federal Direct Loan Schedule of Reductions (SOR)
Beginning July 1, 2026, Federal Direct Loans will be reduced based on the number of credits in which a student is enrolled/academically engaged. This process is called the Schedule of Reductions (SOR).
Similar to the Pell grant, students will now be offered the maximum amount of Federal Direct Loan funding per year based on full-time enrollment. See below for an enrollment guide detailing the number of credits in which a student must be enrolled/academically engaged to be considered full-time for financial aid purposes.
Full-Time Academic Year Definition: To be considered full-time during the academic year
- Undergraduate Students: Must take 24 credit hours over the course of the fall and spring terms
- Graduate/Professional/PhD Students: Must take 18 credits over the fall and spring terms
| Fall/Spring | Summer | |
| Undergraduate Students | 12 Credits | 12 Credits |
| Graduate Students | 9 Credits | 3 Credits |
With the new Federal Direct Loan SOR requirement, full-time students will receive the full amount of their annual loan offer. If a student is enrolled less than full-time, they will not be eligible to receive the full-time amount of loans offered to them. Instead, the university will calculate the amount of loan funding the student is eligible to receive based on the number of credits in which they are enrolled/academically engaged.
How will it be calculated:
See below for annual Federal Direct Loan limits and example of calculation.
If dependent, your subsidized and unsubsidized Direct Loan annual eligibility is as follows:
|
|
0-29 Earned Credits
|
30-59 Earned Credits
|
60 and Above Earned Credits
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Subsidized
|
$3,500
|
$4,500
|
$5,500
|
|
Unsubsidized
|
$2,000
|
$2,000
|
$2,000
|
|
Total
|
$5,500
|
$6,500
|
$7,500
|
*Please note that amounts offered to you could differ from amounts listed above based on your Cost of Attendance, Financial Need, and total lifetime borrowing history.
If independent, your subsidized and unsubsidized Direct Loan annual eligibility is as follows:
|
|
0-29 Earned Credits
|
30-59 Earned Credits
|
60 and Above Earned Credits
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Subsidized
|
$3,500
|
$4,500
|
$5,500
|
|
Unsubsidized
|
$6,000
|
$6,000
|
$7,000
|
|
Total
|
$9,500
|
$10,500
|
$12,500
|
*Please note that amounts offered to you could differ from amounts listed above based on your Cost of Attendance, Financial Need, and total lifetime borrowing history.
Students may borrow up to $20,500 each academic year of a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan.
*Please note that amounts offered to you could differ from amounts listed above based on your Cost of Attendance, Financial Need, and total lifetime borrowing history.
Let鈥檚 say you鈥檙e a Dependent Junior who can borrow up to $7,500 (typically $5,500 in subsidized and $2,000 unsubsidized) in student loans for the school year. You plan to take 12 credit hours in the fall and 12 credit hours in the spring, which makes you a full鈥憈ime student (full鈥憈ime = at least 12 credits each term).
That means:
- Full-time for the year = 24 credits (12 fall + 12 spring)
- Your loan normally comes in two equal payments:
- Fall: $3,750 ($2,750 subsidized + $1,000 unsubsidized)
- Spring: $3,750 ($2,750 subsidized + $1,000 unsubsidized)
This means a student in this category cannot receive more than these loan amounts for the entire academic year, including summer, fall, and spring (in that order). In the past, students could take as few as six credits per term and still receive the full loan amount. Now, loan eligibility is adjusted based on a student鈥檚 scheduled enrollment (SOR).
What Happens When You Drop a Class
If you drop from 12 credits to 9 credits in the fall before your loan is disbursed, your loans must be reduced because you are now on track to complete 21 hours instead of 24 hours.
Your New Plan for the Year
- Fall:9 credits
- Spring (expected):12 credits
- Total:21 credits
Originally, full鈥憈ime for the year was 24 credits, but now you鈥檒l only have 21 credits.
Percent of Full-Time You're Completing
(21 梅 24) x 100 = 87.5% (rounded to 88%)
This means you are scheduled to complete 88% of the credits needed to be considered full鈥憈ime for the combined fall and spring terms.
How It Affects Your Loan
Since you鈥檙e only completing 88% of the needed credits, you can only receive 88% of your $7,500 loan limit:
Your new eligibility for the year is $7,500 x 88% = $6,600
- $5,500 x 88% = $4,840 subsidized
- $2,000 x 88% = $1,760 unsubsidized
| Fall | Spring | Total | |
| Subsidized Loan | $2,090 | $2,750 | $4,840 |
| Unsubsidized Loan | $760 | $1,000 | $1,760 |
Let鈥檚 say you鈥檙e a Dependent Junior who can borrow up to $7,500 (typically $5,500 in subsidized and $2,000 unsubsidized) in student loans for the school year. You plan to take 12 credit hours in the fall and 12 credit hours in the spring, which makes you a full鈥憈ime student (full鈥憈ime = at least 12 credits each term).
That means:
- Full-time for the year = 24 credits (12 fall + 12 spring)
- Your loan normally comes in two equal payments:
- Fall: $3,750 ($2,750 subsidized + $1,000 unsubsidized)
- Spring: $3,750 ($2,750 subsidized + $1,000 unsubsidized)
What Happens When You Drop a Class
If you drop from 12 credits to 9 credits in the fall AFTER your loan has disbursed, your total loans for the year will need to be reduced. This may create a bill to repay loan money already disbursed in the fall, or a reduction to loans you anticipate receiving in the spring.
Before giving you the spring portion of the loan, we must verify how many credits you are actually going to finish for the combined fall and spring terms.
Your New Plan for the Year
- Fall: 9 credits
- Spring (expected): 12 credits
- Total: 21 credits
Originally, full鈥憈ime for the year was 24 credits, but now you鈥檒l only have 21 credits.
Percent of Full-Time You鈥檙e Completing
(21
This means you are scheduled to complete 88% of the credits needed to be considered full鈥憈ime for the combined fall and spring terms.
How This Affects Your Loan
Since you鈥檙e only completing 87.5% of the needed credits, you can only receive 88% of your $7,500 loan limit:
Your new eligibility for the year is $7,500 x 88% = $6,600
- $5,500 x 88% = $4,840 subsidized
- $2,000 x 88% = $1,760 unsubsidized
| Fall | Spring | Total | |
| Subsidized Loan | $2,750 | $2,090 | $4,840 |
| Unsubsidized Loan | $1,000 | $760 | $1,760 |
Stafford Loans
The Office of Financial Aid automatically awards Stafford loans to students who have applied for federal aid and meets all criteria to receive Federal Title IV funding.
Stafford loans amounts are subject to federally mandated limits. Learn more about
loan limits by clicking here. There are also enrollment requirements for stafford loans: undergraduate students
must enroll in a minimum of six credits hours per semester and graduate students must
enroll in a minimum of four credit hours per semester to be eligible for any stafford
loan disbursement.
Entrance Loan Counseling
U.S. Department of Education regulations require all first time borrowers of Federal Subsidized Stafford and Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loans to complete . You must complete Entrance Loan Counseling only once during your undergraduate career. This is required before a school can disburse federal loans to your student account.
Master Promissory Note
The is a legal document in which you promise to repay your loan(s) and any accrued interest and fees to the U.S. Department of Education. It also explains the terms and conditions of your loan(s). This is required before a school can disburse federal loans to your student account.
You may receive more than one loan under an MPN over a period of up to 10 years to pay for your or your child鈥檚 educational costs, as long as the school is authorized to use the MPN in this way and chooses to do so.
Exit Loan Counseling
U.S. Department of Education regulations require Federal Stafford and Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loan recipients to complete Exit Loan Counseling when graduating from or when leaving Southern Miss. Students who borrowed Stafford and/or Unsubsidized Stafford Loans can meet this requirement online, please .
Please note that you will be required to provide three personal references for Exit Loan Counseling. One of these references must be the address of your immediate next of kin. All references should be adults who live at separate addresses. Addresses must include street and/or P.O. Box numbers, city, state, zip codes, and complete phone numbers.
Cohort Default Rate
A cohort default rate is the percentage of a school's borrowers who enter repayment on certain Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program or William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans during a particular federal fiscal year (FY), October 1 to September 30, and default or meet other specified conditions prior to the end of the second following fiscal year.
You can view 91少女集中营's Official Cohort Default Rate by entering 002441 in the OPEID search box .
How can I view my aid history?
The U.S. Department of Education has a central database for student aid. It receives data from schools, agencies that guaranty loans, the Direct Loan program, the Pell Grant program, and other U.S. Department of Education programs. It provides a centralized, integrated view of Title IV loans and Pell grants that are tracked through their entire cycle: from aid approval through closure. To view your history, click to login to your federal student aid account using your FSA ID and Password.
Deferment
A Deferment is a period of time during which no payments are required and interest does not accrue (accumulate), unless you have an Unsubsidized Stafford Loan. In that case, you must pay the interest.
How do I qualify for a deferment?
The most typical loan deferment conditions are enrollment in school at least half time, inability to find full-time employment ( for up to 3 years), and economic hardship ( for up to 3 years). Other deferment conditions are loan-specific.
You must continue making payments on your loan until you're notified that your deferment or forbearance has been granted. If you don't, and your request is denied, you'll become delinquent and could end up in default.
What is loan consolidation?
You can consolidate (combine) multiple federal student loans with various repayment
schedules into one loan. Your payments might be significantly lower and you can take
a longer time to repay (up to 30 years) if you consolidate. Also, you might pay a
lower interest rate than you would on one or more of your existing loans.
Please compare the cost of repaying your unconsolidated loans with the cost of repaying
a consolidation loan. Consolidation can double total interest expense because you
can have a longer period of time to repay, you'll repay more interest.
For a list of your loans eligible for consolidation, contact your lender.
For more information, visit . Hover over the "Loan Repayment" tab, then click on "Consolidate Loans."