While in school and enrolled half-time or more, you are not required to make payments toward your student loans. It is important to work with your school’s financial aid office to keep up with deadlines or other requirements stipulated by your school.

If your loans have a standard, six-month grace period your first payment will not be due until approximately six months from the date you graduate or drop below half-time enrollment. The grace period was developed to help you adjust to life outside school and balance your finances before you begin making payments. Once you have exited school, review the repayment plan you chose during exit counseling and begin factoring your payments into your budget.

Please note, any Unsubsidized Loans or Parent Plus Loans, will start accruing interest from the date they are disbursed. Any Subsidized Loans will not accrue interest until the date they convert to payment.

• Access your OSLA online account 24 hours a day.
• Be aware of any loans that are held by another servicer, to see other servicers log into https://studentaid.gov. You will need your FSA ID to begin the login process.
• Make sure to keep all your student loan details organized and together.

Address changes? Phone number changes? Name changes? Transfers to different schools? OSLA will need to be updated by you, the borrower, so that we can send you periodic updates regarding your account. Make sure to watch for emails from OSLA. OSLA will keep you up-to-date on information regarding your student loans, example: converting to payment, or Deferment ending date. It is imperative that you keep your contact information up-to-date, so we can keep you aware of any changes to your account.

Your first statement should arrive approximately 3-4 weeks prior to your first monthly payment due date.

Contact OSLA if you have decided to depart from your school or you drop below half-time. When you call OSLA have your separation date handy. We will need the separation date to update your account, this will change your expected first payment date and when interest will begin accruing if you DO NOT have a Subsidized loan. OSLA will be here to help you navigate your student loan repayment programs, while you get ready to start making payments.

Get an exact amount of what tuition, room and board, books, and lab fees will cost you. Once scholarships and grants are applied, you'll need to either use saved money or borrow loans to fill in the gap. Never borrow more money than you can afford to pay back. Consider paying any interest as it accrues to avoid paying a larger total over time.