Loan Exit Counseling
Exit counseling is required any time a federal loan borrower graduates or drops below half-time enrollment.
This may include, but is not limited to:
- dropping below half-time enrollment from one semester to the next
- dropping below half-time enrollment for the current semester by withdrawing from some or all classes
- graduating
- sitting out for a semester
- stopping out of college
Students who may need to complete exit counseling are sent notifications to their UofM and/or personal email accounts. A letter may also be sent to the permanent address listed on their student account if they do not an email account on file.
Exit counseling must be completed in a single session, so please plan accordingly. Most students take about 20 to 30 minutes to complete the process online, and you can get started by following these steps:
- Go to the Federal Student Aid website
- Log in with your "FSA ID (the same Federal Student Aid ID you use to log in to the FAFSA)
- Under the "My Checklists" section, click the dropdown arrow next to "I'm in School" and select "Complete Exit Counseling"
- Click on the "Start" button on the following screen for your appropriate student type
- In the panel on the left side of the screen, be sure to add the University of Memphis as a school you wish to notify (school code 003509)
- Click "Continue" to begin
- Complete counseling and submit
If you would prefer not to complete exit counseling online, you may also read the Direct Loan Exit Counseling Guide, fill out the "Student Contact Information and Acknowledgement" pages at the end, and return those to us. However, completing your exit counseling online will satisfy your requirement faster, and the online information provided may be more up to date.
The entire process typically takes 20 to 30 minutes and must be completed in a single session.
After graduating, leaving school, or dropping below half-time enrollment, federal loan borrowers typically enter a grace period, meaning they do not have to make payments on their loans for a set amount of time. You can find out more about the grace period on the Federal Student Aid Student Loan Repayment website. Even if you don't have to repay your loans right away, there's still a lot to consider and plan for.
Exit counseling is a process that provides information about your federal loan servicer and can help you understand the details of repayment - such as when repayment starts, how to repay, repayment plans, and what to do if you have trouble making payments.
Any time a student graduates or drops below half-time enrollment, a new exit counseling session needs to be completed (even if the student previously completed an entrance counseling session). The session provides important information to the student as they prepare to enter repayment on student loans.