Loan Counseling & Deferment
If you receive federal loans for your educational costs, you must complete entrance and exit counseling regarding your loans. Entrance Counseling must be completed prior to loans being disbursed to your student accounts. Exit Counseling must be completed when you graduate, withdraw from school, or drop below half-time status (6 credits).
Entrance and Exit Counseling is provided online by the U.S. Department of Education:
Deferment & Enrollment Verification
Enrollment verification is necessary for deferral of loan repayment during your ongoing course of study. Iona University can provide official evidence of enrollment at the University for health insurance agencies, housing authorities, banks, etc.
Obtain an Enrollment Verification
Please consult with your lender, guarantee agency, or servicer to determine whether they require a Loan Deferment Request Form to be filed every semester or if a single request form is sufficient for the duration of in-school enrollment.
If seeking to defer loan repayment for reasons other than ongoing in-school enrollment (due to economic hardship, for example), you must contact the lender or loan servicer for information about available options.
Federal Student Aid Ombudsperson
The Ombudsperson’s office is a resource for you to use when other approaches to resolving student loan problems have failed. You should first attempt to resolve complaints by contacting the school, company, agency, or office directly involved. If you have made a reasonable effort to resolve the problem through normal processes and have not been successful, contact the FSA Ombudsperson online or by phone at (877) 557-2575.