Loans

The U. S. Department of Education is the most common source of education loan funds.

The loans programs that BCC participates in are:

Federal Direct Stafford -Subsidized and Unsubsidized
Federal Direct Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (Direct PLUS)
Alternative Loans

To be considered for a student loan you need to complete the BCC financial aid application process. 
Note:  BCC participates in the Federal Direct Loan Programs - Stafford and PLUS applications submitted through SallieMae, Wells Fargo, etc. cannot be considered.
A financial aid application is not needed for parent loans (PLUS) or alternative loans.
For PLUS loans, refer to the link on the left.

A BCC financial aid award decision will be sent to you once your financial aid application is complete.   If your BCC financial aid award letter does not include a loan offer and you still want to borrow, complete the Loan Request Form and send it to the BCC Financial Aid Office.

All loan programs require that you be enrolled in at least six credits.  All loan funds must be repaid by you. Read the entrance counseling and promissory notes carefully. In certain limited cases, you can request to postpone or cancel the repayment of this debt.

If your BCC financial aid award letter includes an offer of a Federal Stafford loan, there are three steps you need to follow:

1. Accept the loan.
You need to be admitted to a degree program before you are allowed to access this account.  Read these instructions in full before entering accessBCC.

• Enter your User Name found at the bottom of your BCC Financial Aid Award Letter.
• Enter your password
• Click OK
  • On My accessBCC tab, click Financial Aid from the menu
  • Click My Award Info
  • Click Award by Aid Year
  • From the drop down menu, select the academic year
  • Click the Accept Award Offer tab
  • Follow the instructions under Options for Accept Award Offers Include
  • You can accept a lower loan amount by entering the dollar amount in the box to the right of the award.

Click here to enter accessBCC.

2. Complete the Master Promissory Note (MPN)
Before completing Step 2, you need to determine if you are a new borrower or a previous borrower.

• New borrowers* - if this is the first time you receive a Direct Stafford Loan, you will need to complete the MPN.  The MPN will be available three business days after you accept the loan.   
  Click here to complete the Promissory Note
• Previous borrowers - you may have already completed this step.  You can check your status at www.dlenote.ed.gov  Click on Retrieve and View MPN link.  If you completed the MPN within the past ten years, you do not complete one again.  If there is no MPN on file, then you need to complete the Promissory Note.

3.  Complete the Entrance Counseling
Before completing Step 3, you need to determine if you are a new borrower or a previous borrower. 

• New borrowers - if this is the first time you receive a Direct Stafford Loan, you need to complete the loan entrance counseling.
  Click here to complete the Entrance Counseling
• Previous borrowers - If you think you completed the entrance counseling at BCC already, check your status on your accessBCC account.  Log in, go to Financial Aid; then My Eligibility; then Student Requirements; then select the current award year.   
  • If entrance counseling is received and satisfied, then counseling is already done
  • If entrance counseling is required, then you need to complete the Entrance Counseling.
     
    
• *All first-time direct loan borrowers must complete the online Stafford Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Federal Entrance Counseling. 
• Please review the information on Direct Loan Master Promissory Note site. 
• You will need your Federal Student Financial Aid PIN to complete this step.
• This is the same PIN you use to electronically sign your FAFSA. 
• I you don't have this PIN available, you can get your PIN by clicking the ‘PIN site’ link on the front page of the Direct Loan Master Promissory Note website.
• Important:  The Federal Student Financial Aid PIN is not your accessBCC PIN.  

If you don't have access to the web and are awarded a Stafford Loan, contact the BCC Financial Aid Office.