Serial MPN feature expanded
Submitted by: Larry Viterna and Kathy Bixby, USA Funds Services
A recent Dear Colleague Letter from the U.S. Department of Education explains the expansion of the serial, or multi-year, feature of the Master Promissory Note (MPN).
GEN-02-10 states that regulations have been revised to permit most schools to use the serial feature of the MPN, effective for any Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loan certified by the school on or after March 1, 2003, regardless of the loan period for which the loan is certified. The new regulations also are in effect for any 2003-2004 Federal Direct Loan Program (FDLP) loan that is processed after the 2.0 release of the Common Origination and Disbursement System.
Schools located outside of the United States, however, still are not permitted to use the serial feature unless the Department grants special permission.
To allow the Department to monitor the multi-year feature of the MPN, the serial MPN's use previously was limited to four-year, graduate and professional schools. Expansion of the program now permits schools originally barred from using the serial feature to obtain the student's signature on a single promissory note and to certify and deliver multiple loans under that single note. Schools still may elect to obtain a separate note for each separate new loan.
GEN-02-10 and other Dear Colleague Letters are available through the "Financial-Aid Professionals" and "Education Lenders" sections of the USA Funds Web site, www.usafunds.org.
More information about the MPN is offered in Volume 8 of the Student Financial-Aid Handbook, which may be accessed at www.ifap.ed.gov.
You may submit questions about the expanded serial MPN feature or other education-loan policy issues to USA Funds' policy advisers by e-mail to askpolicy@usafunds.org. Additional details also are available by calling Federal Student Aid at (800) 433-7327 or sending an e-mail to FSA.Customer.Support@ed.gov.
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