This guide has been designed to inform you of your benefits and obligations under the Federal Perkins Loan Program. When you are no longer attending the SUNY campus that granted your loan(s), or your enrollment drops to less than half-time status, your loan is transferred to the SUNY Student Loan Service Center for billing and collection.
The SUNY Student Loan Service Center (hereafter referred to as the SUNY SLSC) is the central billing and servicing office for the State University of New York state-operated campuses. When you are no longer attending the SUNY campus that granted your loan(s) due to graduation, withdrawal, or a change in status to less than half-time enrollment, your loan is transferred to the SUNY SLSC for servicing. All correspondence and loan payments are to be directed to the SUNY SLSC and not to the campus you attended. Please contact us at:
SUNY Student Loan Service Center
5 University Place
Rensselaer, New York 12144-3440
Phone: (518) 525-2626
Fax: (518) 525-2600
email: slsc@albany.edu
The records of the SUNY SLSC are assigned loan account numbers. Each borrower is assigned a unique 9 digit student identification number which begins with the numbers 898. It is extremely important to include your loan account number on all correspondence to the SUNY SLSC. Unidentified items may result in delayed responses to your inquiries and/or misapplication of payments.
All borrowers are required to complete an Exit Interview Questionnaire and Repayment Agreement prior to leaving the campus. This process may be conducted by the Financial Aid or Student Accounts Office, whichever has been designated to perform this task at your campus. If you signed your Perkins promissory note electronically, you have the option to fully complete the exit interview process online.
You are required under the terms of the loan agreement to keep the SUNY SLSC informed of any change in your name or address. Leaving a forwarding address notice with the U.S. Postal Service is not considered official notification of a change of address. Failure to properly notify the SUNY SLSC may negatively impact your credit rating if SLSC staff are unable to locate you and service your account.
Once your loan account information is established at the SUNY SLSC, you will be sent a Truth-In-Lending statement confirming your loan information as submitted by the campus. You will also receive periodic reminders during the grace period as to when repayment is due to start. Repayment is required to begin at the end of your initial grace period, which is determined by the regulations in effect at the time the loan was granted. Currently, the grace period is nine months following your separation from the loan-granting campus.
If you are in the military reserves, you may qualify for an additional grace period. Under Federal law, the initial grace period excludes any period during which a borrower, who is a member of the reserve component of the Armed Forces named in Title 10, Sec. 10101 of the United States Code, is called or ordered to active duty for more than 30 days. Any single excluded period may not exceed 3 years and includes the time necessary for the borrower to resume enrollment at the next available regular enrollment period. You must contact the SUNY SLSC if you believe you are entitled to this additional grace period.
The interest rate on your Federal Perkins Loan is 5%. Your monthly repayment amount will include the principal and interest needed to repay your original loan amount and the accruing interest over the life of your loan, if payments are received as scheduled. You must pay back your student loan, even if you do not graduate, you do not get a job, or your education did not meet your expectations. Paying your loan on time will help to build a good credit history, which makes it easier for you to borrow money in the future. The SUNY SLSC will send you a billing statement before the first scheduled payment is due. Payment can be made by check, money order, credit card or ACH. NEVER SEND CASH. Checks should be made payable to the SUNY SLSC and be sure to enclose the top portion of your monthly billing statement or coupon with your remittance. ACH (Automated Clearing House) offers you the option of having your checking or savings account directly debited for the amount of your payment each month, which facilitates timely loan payment. To make payment by credit card, please go to Payment Options in the Borrower's section of our website.
Federal Perkins Loans have a maximum ten-year repayment period. A $40 minimum monthly payment is required. The length of repayment is determined by the total amount borrowed, the interest rate, and the repayment amount. Review your promissory note(s), addendum(s), or the Exit Repayment Agreement for your specific repayment terms.
If you do not make timely payments, you will face serious consequences including an adverse credit history, referral of your loan to a collection agency, interception of your NY State tax refund and litigation by the New York State Attorney General and/or referral to DOE for collection. Late charges are assessed for all late payments. Mail your payments as early as possible to ensure timely application. Nonnegotiable checks will be charged up to $20 per occurrence.
You may pre-pay this loan, make loan payments before they are required, or in amounts greater than required, at any time without penalty. If you wish to accelerate repayment of your loan (repay ahead of schedule) by making payments larger than the amount required, any additional amount remitted on a current account will be applied to the principal unless otherwise noted. Accelerating repayment shortens the repayment term and reduces the total interest you pay.
If you wish to make advance payments for future installments, you must request this in writing and your payment must be a multiple of your regular monthly payment. For instance, if your current monthly payment is $100 and you would like to make advance payments for the two succeeding months, your payment must equal $300, which is to be applied as $100 for the current month and $100 for each of the two succeeding months.
The U.S. Army offers a loan repayment program for borrowers of a Perkins or Direct Student Loan for service in the U.S. Army, Army Reserves, or Army National Guard. For more information, contact your local military recruiting office.
Undergraduate students may borrow up to $5,500 per award year, with an aggregate loan limit of $27,500. Graduate/professional students may borrow up to $8,000 per award year, with an aggregate loan limit of $60,000. For all non-undergraduate and non-graduate/professional students the aggregate loan limit is $11,000.
Contact the SUNY SLSC for required forms and specific filing information. Many deferment forms must be filed with the SUNY SLSC at least once a year for each year you are in an eligible status. The SUNY SLSC is required by Federal regulations to assess a late charge when forms are not submitted in a timely manner. Failure to file forms in a timely manner is equivalent to not making timely payments and as a result, can negatively affect your credit rating. Visit the SLSC�s website for deferment forms and detailed filing information.
Forbearance is a temporary postponement of payments or the acceptance of smaller payments than were previously scheduled. Interest will continue to accrue during any period of forbearance. Forbearance may be requested verbally or in writing, and adequate documentation that supports a financial inability to make payments provided. Forbearance, granted for up to one year at a time, cannot exceed a maximum of three years, collectively.
If you meet specific qualifications as a low-income individual during repayment, the SUNY SLSC may extend your repayment period up to an additional ten years, adjust the repayment schedule to reflect your income, or both. Contact the SUNY SLSC for specific information.
The outstanding loan balance may be discharged in the event of death or permanent and total disability of the borrower. Please contact the SUNY SLSC regarding the death cancellation process. For information on eligibility and filing for total and permanent disability discharge, visit http://www.disabilitydischarge.com. The U.S. Department of Education determines a borrower's eligibility to receive total and permanent disability discharge.
Allowing your account to become delinquent can seriously affect your personal credit rating. Should you default; requests for transcripts will not be honored. Should you attempt to register at another SUNY school, your registration will be blocked and you will not be eligible for any additional Federal Title IV aid, including Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Family Educational Loans, William D. Ford Federal Direct Loans, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), Federal Pell Grant, TEACH Grants, and Federal Work Study. If repayment is not made according to the terms of your promissory note, regulations also allow for the referral of delinquent accounts to collection agencies and to an attorney for litigation. You will be held responsible for the entire resulting penalty, collection, and litigation costs as provided in your promissory note. Also, under NYS Tax Law, the SUNY SLSC is entitled to intercept NYS income tax refunds of defaulted borrowers.
Pursuant to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, education loans, such as Perkins loans, are not dischargeable in bankruptcy unless repayment of the loan will create an undue hardship for the debtor or the debtor’s dependents. In such a case, the debtor can request student loan discharge consideration through an undue hardship petition.
A loan rehabilitation program is available to eligible defaulted Perkins loan borrowers. To successfully rehabilitate a defaulted loan, the borrower must make nine, on time, consecutive, monthly payments in an amount, which will be determined by the SUNY SLSC and/or its agent. After successful rehabilitation, the SUNY SLSC will instruct the credit bureau to remove the default from the borrower�s credit history, and the borrower will be afforded the balance of benefits under the original promissory note. A Perkins loan may be successfully rehabilitated only once. Perkins loans which have been litigated are not eligible for loan rehabilitation.
To help ensure that you receive all loan information timely, you must notify the SUNY SLSC of any changes in your name, address, phone number or employment situation. Read all information carefully and keep your loan records accurate and organized. Contact the SUNY SLSC immediately if you have trouble making payments. There may be additional repayment options available to you during times of difficulty. You should develop a budget to help you manage your debt including your student loan payments, credit card debt, and other living expenses.
If you are unable to resolve a dispute with the SUNY SLSC concerning your loan, you may contact the U.S. Department of Education's Office of the Ombudsman using the following information:
Via telephone:
(877) 557-2575
Via fax:
606-396-4821
Via mail:
FSA Ombudsman Group
P.O. Box 1843
Monticello, KY 42633
The NSLDS is the U.S. Department of Education's central database for student aid. NSLDS provides you with a centralized, integrated view of all of your Title IV loans and Pell grants. The NSLDS Student Access Website is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Internet: http://www.nslds.ed.gov Telephone: (800) 4-FED-AID
Due to various State and Federal laws governing confidentiality of records, we cannot disclose any information about an account to anyone other than the borrower without the express written permission of the borrower.
If you have any questions or need additional information, you may contact the SUNY SLSC by telephone at (518) 525-2626 or by email at slsc@albany.edu. You may also access the SUNY SLSC�s website at https://slsc.albany.edu.
Revised 11/12
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