Loan Counseling & Promissory Notes

(For information about the New Federal Debt Relief Programs, see the bottom of this page.)

First-time Borrower Requirements

If this is your first year borrowing federal loans at TU, then after you have submitted your FAFSA, received Your Award Notification and accepted your loan offers, you must complete Entrance Counseling and a Master Promissory Note (MPN) for each different federal loan program that you borrow from.

  • The required Entrance Counseling session explains the loan terms and conditions.
  • The Master Promissory Note (MPN) is your contract to repay the loan. You must complete the MPN the first time you borrow from any loan program at TU. Each MPN only applies to one loan program. Then in subsequent years, you can borrow additional loans without completing another MPN.
  • There are separate counseling and MPN requirements for the three federal loan programs. To ensure that you complete the steps for the correct loan program, follow the Award Notification instructions to review your current aid offers on your Towson Online Services Student Dashboard.

Completing Your Master Promissory Note (MPN)

If you exit the online MPN process before you complete the submission process, you will have to start over when you re-enter. Please have the following information ready before you begin the MPN process:

  • permanent address and telephone number
  • e-mail address
  • social security number and the full legal name listed on your social security card
  • driver's license number
  • complete names, addresses and telephone numbers of two personal references

For your personal references, choose two persons with different addresses in the U.S. who have known you for at least three years. The first reference should be a parent or legal guardian if available. These are not cosigners or credit references. They will be used to help contact you if you fail to report a change of address. Choose persons that you expect to remain in contact with for many years.

If you have any questions, please contact the financial aid office.

Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Student Loans

All new borrowers must complete entrance counseling and a Master Promissory Note (MPN). You only have to complete these two steps the first time you borrow a loan.  

  1. Complete Entrance Counseling
  2. Complete the Subsidized/Unsubsidized MPN

Parent and Graduate PLUS Loans

To borrow a PLUS Loan, please follow these instructions:

Most PLUS loans borrowers don't have to complete PLUS counseling. PLUS counseling is only required if you have an adverse credit history. If you are required to complete it, visit PLUS Counseling.

Exit Counseling

Student borrowers must complete exit loan counseling when they graduate, stop attending the university, or drop below half-time enrollment. Before beginning your exit loan counseling session, you should have ready the names and addresses of two persons, each with a different address, who will know your whereabouts after you leave school (one can be a parent).

Repaying Federal Loans

Maryland Loan Repayment Programs

If you are a Maryland resident, explore these repayment programs:

Federal Debt Relief Programs

Follow the links below, for detailed information about the U.S. Department of Education 's two debt relief programs.

The Public Services Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program forgives additional debt for eligible public service employees. - Apply now!

The COVID-19 Payment and Interest Pause temporarily paused payment requirements and assigned a 0% interest rate for borrowers who were currently in repayment. In October, borrowers must start repaying their loans again.  Prepare to start repaying your loans 

Cancelled Relief Program

The Biden administration had also proposed an additional One-Time Student Loan Debt Relief program, but that program was blocked by a Supreme Court ruling.  The proposal would have canceled $10,000 or $20,000 of loan debt for eligible borrowers.