Loans 

Both the subsidized and unsubsidized loans have an origination fee of 1.057%, which is taken out of your loan before it is disbursed. This is why, for example, your account might show your loan for the semester as $1,000, but the actual amount posted is for $990 – because the origination fee was taken out.

As an undergraduate student, the interest rate for both of these loans (with a first disbursement on or after July 1, 2024, but before July 1, 2025) is 6.533%. This is a fixed interest rate, which means that it will not change for the life of the loan.

As a graduate or professional student, you are not eligible for the subsidized loan and the interest rate for the unsubsidized loan (with a first disbursement on or after July 1, 2024, but before July 1, 2025) is 8.083%, again, at a fixed rate.

Both loans have a limit to how much you can receive in one academic year, and over the course of your college career – Check out the table below to see what these limits are!

What is the difference between the subsidized loan and the unsubsidized loan? There are a couple of differences between the subsidized loan and the unsubsidized loan:

• For the subsidized loan, the government is paying the interest accrued on your behalf while you are enrolled at least half time. Once you graduate or drop below half time/six credits, interest begins accruing on this loan. This means that if you were to borrow $2,000 today, you’d owe $2,000 when it is time to start making payments.
• For the unsubsidized loan, you are responsible for the accruing interest from the day it disburses. This means that if you were to borrow $2,000 today, you’d owe $2,000 + interest when it is time to start making payments.
• The subsidized loan is a need-based loan. This means that not everyone is eligible for this type of loan. In order to determine if a student has any “need”, a school would take your Student Aid Index (SAI - for 2024-2025 and after) or Expected Family Contribution (EFC - for 2023-2024 and prior) from the FAFSA and subtract it from their school’s determined cost of attendance. If your SAI/EFC  is less than the school’s cost of attendance, you have need – if your SAI/EFC exceeds the school’s cost of attendance, you do not have need. Because the cost of attendance varies from school to school, it is possible that you could have subsidized loan eligibility at one school, but not another.

If you’re borrowing the subsidized or unsubsidized loan for the first time, you’ll need to complete two (2) items for the U.S. Department of Education before it will disburse – (1) the Direct Loan Entrance Counseling and (2) the Master Promissory Note (MPN).

The Direct Loan Entrance Counseling is a quick online course that talks about how borrowing student loans works, borrowing wisely, and repayment plans. The MPN is your signature confirming that you will pay these funds back. In most cases, if you do both of these, they are good for up to 10 years. There may be instances, however, when you may be asked to complete them again. 

Both the Direct Loan Entrance Counseling and the Master Promissory Note (MPN) can be done at studentaid.gov.

Fresno State's default rate on Federal Student Loans is 1.7% as of Fiscal Year 2019.

We are proud to say that this is below the national default rate of 2.3% for the Fiscal Year 2019!

For more information on subsidized and unsubsidized loans, please check out the Federal Student Aid page. There is a lot of great information about changes in interest rates and origination fees, how interest accrues, options for repayment plans, etc. Another really great tool is the Loan Simulator, where you can manually enter, or log in to view your current loans, to see what your payments will look like.

The Parent PLUS and Graduate PLUS both have an origination fee of 4.228%, which is taken out of your loan before it is disbursed. This is why, for example, your account might show your loan for the semester as $1,000, but the actual amount posted is for $957 – because the origination fee was taken out.

 The PLUS loan has an interest rate of 9.08% for loans that have a first disbursement on or after July 1, 2024, but before July 1, 2025. This is a fixed interest rate, which means that it will not change for the life of the loan.

Currently, there is no limit to how much you or your parent can borrow over the course of your college career. However, universities do have the right to limit or deny processing if the borrower has borrowed an excessive amount of student loans under Section 479A of the Higher Education Act. While there is no lifetime limit on the PLUS loans, we cannot award you more financial aid total (all aid combine) than what has been determined as your cost of attendance for attending Fresno State.

If the PLUS loan is an option you or your parent would like to pursue, you can apply for it at studentaid.gov under the respective tab – Graduate/Professional Students or Parent Borrowers, depending on the PLUS loan that you are applying for.

What to do once you or your parent have been approved:

• Parent PLUS Loans will automatically be reviewed and processed. Please keep an eye on your Student Center in case additional information is needed to process your loan.
• Graduate PLUS Loans: you’ll want to complete our Graduate PLUS Loan request form and submit it to our office – This form is located under our Forms section of the website. Once we receive this form, we will begin processing the PLUS loan

 You or your parent may need to complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN) and/or Loan Counseling, specific to the PLUS loan that you are requesting. If this is needed, they can be completed at studentaid.gov, under the respective tab – Graduate/Professional Students or Parent Borrowers, depending on the PLUS loan that you are applying for.

Please note that you must complete the FAFSA for the appropriate academic year in order to receive the PLUS loan.

When applying for the Parent or Graduate PLUS loan, a credit check is required. Once you or your parent complete the application, you’ll know right away if the credit was approved or declined. Here are the options following your credit decision:

• If your credit was approved: If you applied for the Graduate PLUS Loan, you will want to complete our Graduate PLUS Loan Request Form from our Forms section and submit it to our office for processing. NOTE: We will not process the Graduate PLUS Loan until we have received this form. For approved Parent PLUS Loans, these are automatically processed once we receive the application, usually within a few days of being notified of the application.
  • Find the 2024-2025 Gradaute PLUS Loan Request Form here.
• If your credit was declined: You have a couple options if your credit was declined. They are as follows:
  • You/Your parent can pursue an endorser. An endorser is someone who agrees to repay the PLUS loan if the borrower becomes delinquent in making payments or defaults on the loan and cannot be the student on whose behalf a parent obtains a PLUS loan. Click here to Endorse a Direct PLUS loan. If your endorser is approved, you’ll want to complete the Parent/Graduate PLUS Loan Adjustment Request form from our website and submit it to the office.
    • Find the 2024-2025 Parent or Gradaute PLUS Loan Adjustment Form here.
  • You/Your parent can appeal the credit decision with the U.S. Department of Education. Click here to appeal your credit decision. If your credit is approved, you’ll want to complete the Parent/Graduate PLUS Loan Adjustment Request form from our website and submit it to the office.
    • Find the 2024-2025 Parent or Gradaute PLUS Loan Adjustment Form here.
  • Parent PLUS Loan ONLY: If the credit was declined on your Parent PLUS loan, you, the student, can request an additional unsubsidized loan. This additional unsubsidized loan may be up to $5,000 and is dependent on your borrowing history and grade level. To request the additional unsubsidized loan, please reach out to our office to request this.

Private loans are just that – loans that are pursued with private, or outside lenders. These are not federal student loans that come from the FAFSA. Usually private loans required a credit check and depending on your credit history, sometimes a co-signer.

 Fresno State cannot recommend one lender over another. When pursuing a private loan, you’ll want to make sure to look at things like the interest rates, origination fees, other fees, repayment plans, etc. to make sure that you are getting the best bang for your buck. These loans can sometimes be more expensive than the federal student loans.

The private lender will dictate how much you are eligible to borrow from them, however, keep in mind that we cannot award a total amount of financial aid beyond what has been determined as your cost of attendance for attending Fresno State. If you have received other financial aid awards through scholarships, FAFSA, or other avenues, you might want to check with us to see how much remaining eligibility you have for a private loan. This could help you determine whether or not the costs outweigh the benefits.

Keep in mind that federal regulations require us to hold the disbursement on a private loan for 14 days before disbursing, just in case you change your mind on borrowing.

If you decide to pursue a private loan, once you have been approved with your lender, you’ll want to submit a Private Loan Request form and submit it to our office as soon as possible – This form is located under our Form section of the website. Once we receive this form, we will be able to begin processing the private loan.

 The California DREAM Loan is a subsidized loan program for enrolled undergraduate, credential, and masters students with a valid California Dream Act Application and a valid AB540 affidavit to help cover the costs of attending Fresno State.

To be eligible for this loan, you have to:

• Complete the California Dream Act Application by March 2
• Demonstrate financial need
• Be meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements
• Be enrolled in at least six units

DREAM Loans are awarded based on funding availability. If you meet the above requirements, you will be awarded and then you will need to contact Student Accounts to accept the loan and complete your promissory note and entrance counseling. Receipt of the loan one year does not guarantee an award for the next year. Student Accounts can be reached by calling (559) 278-2876, or emailing student_financial_services@listserv.csufresno.edu.

Eligible students may borrow up to $4,000 per year, not to exceed $20,000 over their undergraduate career.

The California Dream Loan is borrowed money you must repay with interest. The interest rate for the California Dream Loan corresponds with the interest rate on federal Direct Subsidized Loans and is subject to change annually. The California Dream Loan does not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half time, during periods of approved deferment,​​ and during the six-month grace period before you enter repayment. You will be responsible for the interest charged at all other times.

For more information visit heartland.ecsi.net. Under Download Forms search for California State University (Dream Loans).

The U.S. Department of Health Services offers the Nursing Loan Program to students pursuing a baccalaureate degree in nursing that have demonstrated need.

Students can be eligible for up to $2,500 for the first two years of their program and then $4,000 for their final year. The total amount that a student can borrow cannot exceed $17,000 for the duration of their academic career.

The Nursing Loan has a fixed 5% interest rate. It acts similar to the subsidized loan in the sense that it does not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half time. There is a nine month grace period from the point of graduation, leaving school, or enrolling less than half time before you must begin repayment.

To be considered for this award, nursing students must complete the FAFSA for that academic year. If you're interested in having your eligibility reviewed for this award, please contact our office at 559.278.2182 or financialaid@mail.fresnostate.edu.

Once you’ve been awarded a nursing loan, you’ll want to contact Student Accounts to take care of the necessary paperwork and accept the loan.Student Accounts can be reached by calling (559) 278-2876, or emailing student_financial_services@listserv.csufresno.edu.

Funds are limited for this program, so loans that are not accepted within 30 days of awarding or the beginning of the semester, whichever is later, may be cancelled. Nursing loans that exceed the lifetime limit will be cancelled.