Borrowing Loans

Borrow Wisely

You must decide how much you want to borrow, and we encourage you to avoid excessive borrowing and unnecessary expenses.

  1. You can only borrow for one academic year at a time.
  2. Review your total expenses, aid and other resources.
  3. Decide how much you need to borrow.
  4. Please carefully review this information about Responsible Borrowing.
  5. Because some loan programs have annual limits, you may need to borrow from several loan programs to meet your total borrowing needs. Borrow the loans with the best interest rates first.
  6. Your Award Notification lists the maximum amount you can borrow from each loan program.
  7. For information about each loan program's interest rates and origination fees, see Loans.

Common Loan Processing Problems

  • For Parent PLUS Loans, one parent is the borrower and that borrower must compete all application steps.
  • For all other loans, the student is the borrower.
  • The borrower must complete all loan tasks using the borrower’s name, Social Security Number, and Department of Education Personal Identification Number (PIN).
  • Do not skip any of the following steps:
Loan Program borrower entrance counseling master promissory note (MPN)
Direct Student Loans Student Direct S. Loan Counseling Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized MPN
Parent PLUS 1 Parent See PLUS Instructions

Parent PLUS MPN
Grad PLUS Student Direct S. Loan Counseling

PLUS MPN for Graduate Students

Applying for Federal Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loans

  1. Every year, accept these loan offers through your Towson Online Services Student Dashboard and specify the amount you want to borrow.  Follow these instructions.
  2. If you want to change your loan amount after you have already accepted it online, please submit a Loan Change Form, which is available from Forms & Online Services.
  3. The first time you borrow one of these loans, you must also complete Loan Counseling and a Master Promissory Note (MPN).

Applying for Federal PLUS Loans

Repaying Loans

For information about loan counseling and repayment options, see Loan Counseling & Promissory Notes.