Federal Perkins Loan Repayment

The Federal Perkins Loan Program is a federally funded low-interest loan. Ohio University is the lender using funds from the federal government and/or payments collected from previous borrowers. The interest rate on the Perkins Loan is five (5) percent, and repayment starts nine months after a student leaves school, graduates, or drops to below half-time status.

Exit Interview Information

When a student graduates from Ohio University, the loan exit process will begin. The student will receive an email notification to the student's OHIO email address to complete their Perkins Loan Exit Interview Counseling. Exit interview counseling is completed electronically with the University's student loan billing servicer, Educational Computer Systems, Inc. (ECSI) at www.ecsi.net .Failure to complete the exit interview counseling will result in a HOLD being placed on university records (i.e., grades, diploma, transcripts, and future registration).

If a student stops attending Ohio University or transfers to another institution, they should contact the Office of the Bursar to make arrangements to complete the Perkins Loan Exit Interview.

Terms and Repayment

Interest and Grace Period
Interest will begin to accrue nine (9) months after a borrower graduates or ceases to be a half time student at an annual percentage rate of five (5) percent based on the unpaid balance. No interest will accrue during a period of deferment.

Repayment
The first monthly payment will be due ten (10) months from the time the borrower graduates or ceases to be a half time student. The minimum monthly payment will be $40.00, but may be more if the amount borrowed is sufficient to require a larger payment.Repayment occurs over a maximum of 10 years, not including any periods of deferment.

Loan Servicer

Ohio University contracts with a student loan billing servicer to collect Federal Perkins Loans. That servicer is:

ECSI
181 Montour Run Road
Coraoplois, PA 15108-9408
1-866-549-3274

ECSI provides web-based access to your loan account which allows you to view payment history, update address and phone information, verify account balances, obtain loan payoff amounts, sign-up for electronic billing, and make payment.ECSI provides payment options such as recurring electronic funds transfer and credit card payments (additional fee applies to credit card payments; no additional fee for most eCheck payments).You can view your loan account status online at www.ecsi.net.

ECSI will bill each loan in accordance with the terms of the signed promissory note and repayment schedule presented during the exit interview counseling. In the case of multiple Perkins loan accounts, you may receive a consolidated statement. Monthly billing starts following the expiration of the initial 9-month grace period with payment due in the tenth month.

Deferments/Cancellations

You may qualify for a deferment of repayment on a Federal Perkins Loan under certain circumstances.A list of deferment conditions can be found at https://www.borrwer.ecsi.net under the Download Forms link.

You may have part or all of your Perkins Loan cancelled, under certain conditions, as long as the loan is not in default. Typical conditions for cancellation are careers in nursing, teaching, law enforcement, etc. A list of cancellation conditions can be found at https://www.borrwer.ecsi.net under the Download Forms link.

To apply for a deferment/cancellation of payments a borrower must complete a deferment/cancellation form, and submit the form to:

ECSI
181 Montour Run Road
Coraoplois, PA 15108-9408

 

Loan Consolidation

Loan consolidation allows a borrower to combine different types of federal student loans to simplify repayment. A borrower can contact the Department of Education's Direct Lending Consolidation at (800) 557-7392 or loanconsolidation.ed.gov for more information.