You might need a reaffirmation letter for student loans (aka reaffirmation agreement) to reinstate federal student loan eligibility if you accidentally borrowed more than is allowed in a given period. This agreement allows you to keep the excess funds and repay them under the original terms.
In most cases, your school’s financial aid office will inform you that you’re ineligible for additional federal student loans because you borrowed too much money. You’ll need to repay the overadvance in full or sign a reaffirmation agreement to reinstate your student loan eligibility.
The reaffirmation agreement allows you to keep the excess student loan funds and pay them back using the terms of the original promissory note. This option only works if you haven’t reached the maximum aggregate student loan limit. Otherwise, you need to repay the excess amount in full.
In this guide:
- What is a reaffirmation letter for student loans?
- What does a reaffirmation letter look like?
- How to get a reaffirmation letter
- Steps to complete a reaffirmation agreement
- What happens after I complete a reaffirmation agreement?
What is a reaffirmation letter for student loans?
You may be ineligible for student loans until you repay the excess amount or reaffirm you’ll repay it per the original promissory note terms.
One way to reinstate your student loan eligibility is by confirming you’ll pay the excess amount borrowed under the original loan terms using a reaffirmation agreement. Another way is to work with your loan servicer to repay the overadvance and reinstate your student loan eligibility.
If you choose to reaffirm your loans, the agreement includes personal information (e.g., name, address, and tax identification number) and details about your student loans. You’ll work with your school’s financial aid office and loan servicer to prepare the reaffirmation agreement.
Your school will prepare the form section identifying the loans causing the overborrowing and the excess amounts. After you review and sign the reaffirmation agreement, you’ll send it to your loan servicer. Your loan servicer will send you written confirmation once it’s accepted.
What does a reaffirmation letter look like?
You can see an image of the first page of a federal reaffirmation letter (aka reaffirmation agreement) below:
Source: StudentAid.gov
A reaffirmation agreement allows you to regain student loan eligibility. When you sign and submit the reaffirmation agreement, you’re confirming you’ll pay the excess loan amount under the terms of the original promissory note you signed.
The primary sections of the reaffirmation agreement include the following:
- Section 1 — Borrower Identification: You’ll provide your name, address, phone number, email address, and tax identification number. Your loan servicer might fill out this section for you, so you just need to ensure it’s correct.
- Section 2 — Information About Eligibility: This section explains your options. Remember that you only need to complete the reaffirmation agreement if you want to repay the excess amount using the original terms. You’ll need to contact your loan servicer if you prefer to pay it in full.
- Section 3 — School and Loan Information: Your school will fill out this section. It includes details about the school and your loans, such as the loan types, disbursed amount, excess amount, and loan servicer.
- Section 4 — Request, Understandings, Promise to Pay, and Authorization: You’ll sign this section to request reaffirmation and promise to pay the excess amounts you borrowed under the terms of the original note. By signing, you’re also saying you’ve read and understand the agreement.
- Section 5 — Where to Send the Completed Affirmation Agreement: Your loan servicer will often complete this section, which provides the mailing address to return the form. You’ll mail it to your loan servicer.
- Sections 6 and 7 — Definitions and Important Notices: These sections provide definitions of key terms and important notifications, such as your rights to privacy.
If you have questions as you complete the reaffirmation agreement, contact your loan servicer or your school’s financial aid office. They will have experts on staff who can provide you with assistance.
Remember: You’ll only use the reaffirmation agreement if you want to repay the excess amount under the terms of your original promissory note. If you’re going to repay the excess amount in full to reinstate your student loan eligibility, reach out to your loan servicer for instructions.
How to get a reaffirmation letter for student loans
You can get a reaffirmation letter by contacting your student loan servicer. This often happens after you receive a notification from your school’s financial aid office that you’re ineligible for federal student loans because you borrowed too much money.
Once you learn you’re ineligible for additional federal student loans, you or your school’s financial aid office must contact your loan servicer to explain that you borrowed too much money and want to resolve the issue.
You can work with your loan servicer to repay the excess or sign a reaffirmation agreement (aka reaffirmation letter). If you sign a reaffirmation agreement, you agree to pay back the excess amount per the original loan terms.
Your loan servicer will send you the reaffirmation agreement, which you’ll read, sign, and return. Once your loan servicer receives and accepts the reaffirmation agreement, they’ll send you written confirmation, which you can share with your school. At this point, your eligibility is reinstated.
Steps to complete a reaffirmation agreement for student loans
The steps to complete a reaffirmation agreement for student loans are:
- Contact your loan servicer to explain you’ve accidentally overborrowed and want to reaffirm your student loans. You can contact your loan servicer, or your school’s financial aid office may be able to do this on your behalf.
- Read, sign, and return the reaffirmation agreement. The form will list the address to which you should mail the completed agreement and a phone number you can call for assistance. Contact your loan servicer if an address and phone number aren’t provided.
- Receive confirmation your reaffirmation agreement is complete. Once your loan servicer receives and accepts the reaffirmation agreement, it will send a written confirmation notice and may also send it to your school. Your federal student loan eligibility is now reinstated.
By signing a reaffirmation agreement, you agree to repay the excess amount you borrowed under the terms of the original promissory note. This means you’ll repay the extra amount the same way as the other student loan amounts you received.
Remember: If you overborrow on your student loans, you don’t have to reaffirm the excess amount. Instead, you can pay it back in full. Your loan servicer will let you know how to do this, so contact it for details if this is what you want to do.
If you discover you’re ineligible for student loans because you’ve overborrowed, the best place to start is your school’s financial aid office. It can walk you through how to resolve the issue.
What happens to my student loans after I complete a reaffirmation agreement?
After you complete the reaffirmation agreement, send it to your loan servicer for review. Once your loan servicer receives and accepts the document, it will send written confirmation that it considers the overborrowing resolved.
If your loan servicer doesn’t send your school confirmation your agreement was accepted, you can do so yourself. Contact your school’s financial aid office to ask whether you need to send a copy of the confirmation.
As soon as your overborrowing is resolved, you can receive additional student loans up to the maximum amounts you’re eligible to borrow. This can be as soon as the date your loan servicer accepts your reaffirmation agreement or when you repay the excess amount in full.