USA Funds Grad Guide to Offer Online Stafford and Grad PLUS Counseling for Graduate Students
June 23 marks the launch of USA Funds® Grad GuideSM entrance counseling, the new graduate counseling component of the USA Funds Loan Counselor® suite of customized online loan counseling services.
USA Funds Grad Guide applies the engaging graphics and video from the successful online loan counseling tools for undergraduates, USA Funds Stafford Loan GuideSM and USA Funds Student Loan Transition GuideSM, to the unique issues faced by students pursuing graduate and professional degree programs.
Simplifies counseling process for schools
Similar to the undergraduate tool, USA Funds Grad Guide makes it easy to deliver entrance counseling by allowing schools to:
- Customize the counseling to existing office procedures.
- Integrate USA Funds Grad Guide into the OpenNet loan application process.
- Meet federal loan counseling requirements for both Stafford and Grad PLUS loans. Regulations published on Nov. 1, 2007, require schools to implement entrance counseling for Grad PLUS borrowers no later than July 1, 2008.
Helps students make wise decisions
USA Funds Grad Guide helps students to be better prepared to make wise decisions regarding their current education loan debt by providing them with the option to review their total student loan indebtedness to date. The tool displays aggregated student loan information from the Meteor network, allows the student to include information about additional loans, and summarizes Stafford, PLUS and consolidation loan information in one comprehensive view.
USA Funds Grad Guide entrance counseling combines the existing features of USA Funds Loan Counselor with a new set of tools, resources and information to help students navigate their options, plan a budget and understand the details of credit — including student loans:
The tool’s new features include:
- Repayment, consolidation and interactive budget calculators.
- Information about credit scores.
- Details of issues to consider before taking out a student loan.
Schools also have the option to ask up to four questions and determine the number of questions that a student must answer correctly for each topic covered. This feature allows schools to put emphasis on topics that are most important, such as borrower rights and responsibilities.
To learn more about USA Funds Grad Guide, contact your USA Funds Services account executive.
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