Who's right....who's wrong

Hi,

I thought I would reach out to everyone here because of the great knowledge I have gained from these forums.

My cousin has found a school (university) and wishes to enroll with them; however, he has been given conflicting advice from his student loan servicer. I cannot recall the servicer but he did mention that they used to have another name.

At any rate, he called to ask if he would receive an in-school deferment once enrolled and they told him that he would if the school was a title IV school. He contacted the school and told them the answer he received and the school said that they are not title IV but are regionally accredited and approved with the US Department of Education (California Southern University). The school stated that if he sent the in-school deferment form to them they will confirm the half-time enrollment and he will be fine.

He decided to call back and speak with a different agent. They told him that he would receive the in-school deferment as long as he was enrolled half time. He told them that the first agent told him something different and they transferred him to a manager for confirmation. The manager told him that the school would have to be a title IV school in order to qualify for an in-school deferment but he could use regular forbearance time. He contacted the school again and they reiterated their first statement.

One more try from him…..he contacts the loan servicer again and guess what? He is told that he would qualify as long as he is enrolled half-time status!

Anyone else here ever had to deal with that or have any knowledge?

 

My understanding is that the school has to be Title IV. The kicker (and likely the reason he is getting different answers) is that the majority of RA schools are Title IV. Patten University is pretty open and honest about the fact that enrollment doesn't qualify you for deferment because while they are RA, they are not Title IV.

That said, I'm not a student loan expert.

 

The school needs to have a Federal School code. You use this code to inform the lender you're attending an eligible school. You do not have to be on federal financial aid. You can even be ineligible as long as the school participates and has a code.

 

Thanks Rich and Neuhaus. I didn't know a school could be RA and not title IV until recently. I thought the regional accreditation was good all by itself.

Now he did say that the school gave him a US Department of Education code but not a federal one since they are not title IV.