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6/5/2008
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has released the interest rates that will be in effect for the 2008-09 academic year for fixed and variable rate Federal Stafford and PLUS loans in an electronic announcement dated
May 27, 2008.
- Loans with first disbursements on or after
July 1, 2008:
- 6.0% (fixed rate) for Federal Stafford subsidized undergraduate loans during in-school, grace, repayment, deferment and forbearance periods
- 6.8% (fixed rate) for Federal Stafford subsidized graduate loans during in-school, grace, repayment, deferment and forbearance periods
- 6.8% (fixed rate) for Federal Stafford unsubsidized undergraduate and graduate loans during in-school, grace, repayment, deferment and forbearance periods
- 8.5% (fixed rate ) for Federal PLUS loans
As a reminder, the interest rate for Federal Stafford subsidized undergraduate loans will continue to decrease incrementally each year until July 1, 2012, when it is scheduled to revert to 6.8%.
- Loans with first disbursements between
July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2008:
- 6.8% (fixed rate) for all Federal Stafford subsidized and unsubsidized loans during in-school, grace, repayment, deferment and forbearance periods
- Loans with first disbursements between
July 1, 1998 and June 30, 2006:
- 3.61% (variable rate through June 30, 2009) for all Federal Stafford subsidized and unsubsidized loans during in-school, grace and deferment periods
- 4.21% (variable rate through June 30, 2009) for all Federal Stafford subsidized and unsubsidized loans during repayment and forbearance periods
- 5.01% (variable rate through June 30, 2009) for Federal PLUS loans
Additionally, also effective with loans first disbursed on or after July 1st, dependent and independent undergraduate students will be able to borrow an additional $2,000 per year of unsubsidized Federal Stafford loans. ISAC's systems will be ready to accept and process requests for guaranty with these higher limits as of Monday, June 9, 2008. The new annual and aggregate loan limits are:
- Dependent undergraduates:
- $5,500 for freshmen
- $6,500 for sophomores
- $7,500 for juniors and seniors
- Independent undergraduates:
- $6,000 for freshmen and sophomores
- $7,000 for juniors and seniors
- dependent undergraduate - $31,000
- independent undergraduate - $57,500
Another change effective on July 1st is the decrease in the federal origination fee on Federal Stafford loans to
1% of the loan amount. The origination fee on Federal PLUS loans is not impacted and remains at 3% of the loan amount.
For more information about the new interest rates, loan limits and fee amounts for academic year 2008-09, refer to the Stafford and PLUS Loan Interest Rate chart and the FFELP Limits, Rates and Fees chart, both of which are posted in the Federal Information area of College Zone's
e-Library. Feel free to print and copy the charts and use them for your own reference and/or for distribution to your students.
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