This month’s winning question is from Ms Adrienne Fortounas, Financial Aid Officer at Eastern Suffolk County BOCES (ESCB):

I have a part-time student who is also enrolled as a full-time, fourth year student at another school. The other school has certified a $4,000 subsidized loan for the upcoming academic year and the student already has $18,125 in subsidized Stafford loans. How much in subsidized loan money can I certify for the same academic year?

The total amount of subsidized loan funds the student can receive for enrollment at both schools cannot exceed the student’s highest applicable annual Stafford loan limit for the academic year. In this case, the annual limit would be based on the student’s enrollment as a fourth year student at the other school, i.e. $5,500. In addition, ESCB has to be sure that the student does not exceed the aggregate base limit of $23,000. This means the student, prior to the upcoming academic year, has remaining subsidized eligibility of $4,875 ($23,000 – $18,125). Since the other school has already certified a $4,000 subsidized loan for the upcoming year, the student would only be eligible for a subsidized loan of $875 at ESCB. It should be mentioned that if a student is independent he or she may be eligible to apply for an additional unsubsidized loan, as well.


Questions regarding this guidance should be directed to the Office of Counsel and Regulatory Compliance at 518- 473-3986, or toll-free at 1-866-697-4372. In addition, questions can be e-mailed to HESC at Ask Policy@hesc.org