Office of Student Aid : Parents of Students : Parent Newsletter

Penn State Office of Student Aid Parent Newsletter
Volume 5, Issue 4--August 2007

Student Loan Decreases

Students sometimes decide to cancel or decrease their Federal Direct Stafford, Federal Perkins, or University Loans. They can easily accomplish this by selecting the Loan Decrease option from the Students menu on eLion and entering the gross amount of loan desired.

Once a student logs in and accesses this tool, he or she will be presented with a summary of the approved loans for the academic period. Before making any changes to the loan amounts, students should consider their ability to cover the upcoming educational expenses, including tuition and fees, housing and meal costs, books, and other miscellaneous expenses. After carefully assessing their financial needs, students can opt to reduce all or part of their loans. Students should always reduce any unsubsidized portion of their Stafford Loan before reducing subsidized Stafford, University, or Federal Perkins funds, since students are responsible for interest payments on Unsubsidized Stafford Loans during enrollment.

Students may decrease their Federal Direct Stafford Loans only once per semester, and cancellation of fall loans will automatically cancel spring disbursements. Students should be cautious in decreasing University or Federal Perkins Loans. Once they are cancelled, the funds may not be available for reinstatement at a later time.