P4 Pharmacy - 4th year students - Q & A

This webpage was created to answer common financial aid questions specific to graduating P4 Pharmacy 4th year students. 

Grace Period

A grace period is a designated period of time after graduation (or dropping below half-time attendance) before the student begins repayment. 

• Direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans and Graduate PLUS loans all have a six month grace period. Subsidized loans, if applicable, do not begin to accrue interest until the grace period expires.
• Health Professions Loans have a 12 month grace period. Health Professions Loans do not begin to accrue interest until the grace period has expired. 
• Perkins Loans have a 9 month grace period. Perkins Loans do not accrue interest until the grace period has expired.
• Private loans typically have a 6 month grace period, however, terms and conditions of private loans may vary from lender to lender. If you are unsure, contact your lender or refer to your loan contract for confirmation of the grace period time period. 

Loan Servicer(s)

When students initially accept federal subsidized or unsubsidized loans and/or Graduate PLUS Loans, the  federal government assigns a "loan servicer" to collect and service each student's loans. Students that attend one school for both undergrad and graduate school typically have only one federal loan servicer. Students that have attended more than one school may have more than one assigned federal loan servicer.

If you do not know who your assigned federal loan servicer is, you are encouraged to log into NSLDS - the National Student Loan Data Service to find out who your loan servicer(s) is/are. 

Perkins Loans and Health Professions Loans are serviced by University Counseling Service (UAS). 

Private Loans are serviced by the lender that you borrowed from.

Exit Counseling

Exit Counseling is designed to help prepare you for loan repayment. Every student that has federal subsidized and/or unsubsidized loans; Graduate PLUS Loans; and or Perkins Loans should complete Exit Counseling. 

UAS (University Account Service) also offers Exit Interviews to prepare you for repayment of Perkins and/or Health Professions Loans. 

Loan Consolidation

Now that you are graduating, you may be considering consolidating your loans. In some cases, graduates may have federal loan servicers, Perkins Loan and/or Health Professions Loan servicers, and/or private loan servicers. We have created a webpage that provides information about loan consolidation.

Billing Account Balances

If you owe money on Ferris State University billing account, you are going to want to pay that balance off as quickly as possible. Your billing account must be paid in full for you to obtain a transcript, which is a requirement of licensure. 

Further Questions?

Please email your questions to Melanie Mulder at Melanie [email protected].