Special Circumstances

Leaving Stanford

Graduating

When you complete your degree program and leave Stanford, you should take some time to determine when you will need to begin making monthly payments toward your outstanding student loans. Most student loan programs offer a six-month grace period following graduation during which you are not required to make monthly loan payments. An exception is the federal Perkins loan program, which has a nine-month grace period.

If you have borrowed one or more federal Stafford student loans while at Stanford, you will need to complete a loan "exit counseling" process. The exit counseling requirement applies to borrowers of Stafford loans through the Direct Loan program and/or the Federal Family Education Loan (bank-based) program. The Financial Aid Office will contact you with instructions for completing the exit counseling process within 30 days of graduation. If you are graduating in June, you will be invited to attend an in-person exit counseling session on campus during the week before Commencement. If you prefer to complete exit counseling online, or if you are graduating at another time during the year, we will direct you to the NSLDS Exit Counseling website. It is not necessary for you to notify the Financial Aid Office when you have completed exit counseling.

If you have borrowed one or more federal Perkins loans or University loans (e.g. Avery Loan), you will need to complete a separate exit counseling process for these loan types. You will be contacted by University Accounting Services with information about completing this separate process. Questions about the exit counseling process for Perkins and University loans should be directed to the Student Services Center.

Leave of Absence (Autumn/Winter/Spring Quarters only)

If you decide to take a leave of absence during the academic year, here are some primary steps to take:

Step 1

File a Leave of Absence Form with the Office of the University Registrar . In addition, we recommend that you notify Student Financial Services and Housing Assignment Services, and update your address in Axess.

Step 2

Submit an email to financialaid@stanford.edu indicating what quarter(s) you will be on leave, and what quarter you plan to return. We will adjust your award based on your change in enrollment.

• We may apply your aid eligibility to a future quarter in the same academic year. For example, if you are on leave for winter, you may use your aid eligibility for summer of the same academic year.
• If you file a Leave of Absence before the first day of classes, your charges and financial aid will be canceled for the quarter. If you file after the first day of classes and are responsible for a percentage of your charges, we will review your case to determine the amount of aid you are eligible for.
  

Step 3

Notify your student loan servicing agencies that you will be ceasing enrollment. Below is contact information for various loan servicing agencies. If you expect to be out of school for longer than the grace period of your loan program, you should complete the exit counseling process as described above, and you should expect to begin making monthly payments when your grace period expires.

Step 4

Reapply for aid for the next academic year. Application materials are available in January, and due in April. If you leave the University for a year or more, you will be subject to the aid policies in effect when you return.