Welcome to Harvard Graduate Loan Exit Counseling!

If you borrowed a Harvard Graduate Loan with Harvard FCU, your school may ask you to complete Exit Counseling. Exit Counseling provides important information to prepare you to repay your education loan, and is typically required when you drop below half-time enrollment, graduate, or withdraw from school.

Please note that the exit counseling process can vary from school to school. If you haven’t already done so, we recommend contacting your school directly to confirm your exit counseling requirements prior to moving forward.

Complete Your Harvard Graduate Loan Exit Counseling

Step One: Watch Exit Counseling Video

The below presentation will provide you with an overview of the information you will need to successfully repay your Harvard Graduate loan.

*Please note that Graduate Loans borrowed after April 1, 2023 will receive a 9-month grace period. Graduate loans borrowed prior to that date will receive a 6 month grace period. You can log into your Harvard FCU Online Banking account and access your education loan portal to confirm when your grace period will end.

Step Two: Review Your Rights & Responsibilities
As an education loan borrower, you have certain rights and responsibilities when it comes to repaying your loan. To learn what those are, carefully review the below information in full.

Your Rights and Responsibilities as a Borrower:
I HAVE THE RIGHT TO
- Written information on my loan obligations and information on my rights and responsibilities;
- A copy of my promissory note either before or at the time my loan is disbursed;
- A grace period and an explanation of what this means;
- Notification, if Harvard FCU transfers your loan to another servicer without your consent;
- A disclosure statement, received before I begin to repay my loan, that includes information about interest rates, fees, the balance I owe;
- Deferment or forbearance of repayment for certain defined periods, if I qualify and if I request it;
- Prepay my loan in whole or in part anytime without an early-repayment penalty; and
- Documentation when my loan is paid in full, if I request it.
I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR
- Completing exit counseling before I leave school;
- Repaying my loan even if I do not complete my academic program, am dissatisfied with the education I received, or cannot find employment after I graduate;
- Making monthly payments on my loan after my grace period ends, unless I have applied and been approved for deferment or forbearance; and
- Notifying my lender or loan servicer of anything that might alter my eligibility for an existing deferment or forbearance.
- Notifying Harvard FCU and UAS if I am unable to make payments as scheduled
- Notifying Harvard FCU and UAS if:
  - I move or change my address,
  - Change my e-mail,
  - Change my home and/or mobile telephone number,
  - Change my name,
  - Change my Social Security number or obtain one after becoming a permanent resident/U.S Citizen
*
- I acknowledge that I have read and understand the above.
Step Three: Complete & Submit Exit Counseling Form
Completing the form below is the final step in our exit counseling process, and is required in order for us to inform the school of your completion. Once submitted, Harvard FCU will notify the designated school official and your exit requirement should be satisfied. Additionally, you will receive a confirmation email after submitting your exit form.

Exit Counseling Form:
You are required to provide current contact information as a part of the exit counseling process. You are also required to notify UAS, the servicer of your Harvard Graduate Loan, of any changes to your information. Harvard FCU is not responsible for missed payments, delinquency, or default that is a result of a borrower failing to notify UAS of changes in contact information. Please review the Harvard FCU privacy policy at www.harvardfcu.org/policies/privacy/
By completing this exit counseling form, I acknowledge that I have received exit counseling materials for my Harvard Graduate Loan(s). I have read and understand my rights and responsibilities as a borrower. Lastly, I understand that I have a loan from Harvard FCU that must be repaid according to the terms of the loan.

Student Information:
Harvard ID*
First Name*
Last Name*
School Name*
School Email Address*
Personal Email Address*
Phone Number*
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Terms You Should Know

Part of managing your education loan includes learning some of the key terms associated with your loan. Knowing some of the key terms below can help you better understand your loan and repayment.

Capitalization – When unpaid interest is added to the principal amount of your education loan. This typically happens at the end of any grace, deferment, or forbearance period.

Grace Period – A 6-month period that occurs once you graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment. Please note that beginning on April 1^st, 2023, Harvard Graduate Loans will receive a 9 – month grace period (loans borrowed prior to that date will receive 6 months). Payments are not required during the grace period, which gives you time to get financially settled and prepared for repayment.

Each loan has only one grace period. If you took some time off from school, you may have already used the grace period on some of your loans, so you may go directly into repayment on those loans as soon as you leave school.

Amortization – This is the process of spreading out a loan into a series of fixed payments until the loan is paid off at the end of the payment schedule.

Master Promissory Note – This documents the legally binding promise that you make to pay back your education loan under certain terms and conditions, and goes into detail about the consequences of failing to repay your loan.

Final Loan Disclosure – Confirms the rate, the amount of the loan and the end cost of the loan. Additionally, the repayment schedule is outlined in the Final Disclosure and provides an estimate of what monthly payments will be once in repayment.

U.S Prime Rate – The prime rate is an important index used by banks to set rates on many consumer loan products. Harvard FCU uses the U.S. prime rate as the index for our variable rate education loan products.

Forbearance/Deferment – Allows you to temporarily reduce or stop making payments. However interest will continue to accrue during this period and will capitalize onto the principal balance once you reenter repayment.

Default – Failure to repay your education loan. A Harvard Graduate Loan officially enters default once it becomes 180 days past due.

Lender – A bank or other financial organization that makes funds available to a person or business with the expectation that the funds will be repaid. Harvard FCU is your Harvard Graduate Loan lender.

Servicer – An organization that collects payments on behalf of a lender. The servicer also handles the day-to-day tasks for managing your loan. University Accounting Services (UAS) is the servicer of all Harvard FCU education loans.

Financial Education & Counseling Resources

You may face some challenges that can make it difficult to manage and repay your education loan. Finding employment after graduating, experiencing a job loss, or unplanned medical expenses are just a few examples of road blocks that can make the repayment process tough. If you are facing a financial hardship or simply want to discuss your repayment options, please reach out to Harvard FCU directly for additional support and guidance. We’re here to help.

In addition to making the student loan repayment experience as seamless as possible for you, we also want to provide you with some tools that can be beneficial to your overall financial wellness. Below are some financial education and counseling resources that you have free access to, as a member of Harvard FCU.

Personal Finance Webinars

Harvard FCU provides live personal finance webinars as well as access to self-serve videos of past sessions at harvardfcu.org/workshops.

On-Demand Videos

Hundreds of videos about budgeting, credit, debt repayment, banking and more are available at harvardfcu.org/financial-education-videos.

One-on-One Counseling

Harvard FCU members and their families have access to free financial counseling through our partner GreenPath Financial wellness. Visit harvardfcu.org/GreenPath for more information.

Printable Resources

Our budgeting, savings, home buying, credit and debt repayment worksheets can be downloaded and printed at harvardfcu.org/hub.

Educational Articles

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