After receiving your financial aid offer you have a few more steps to complete the process and ensure that all financial aid materials are completed. If you have any questions about your next steps please contact your Financial Aid Counselor at finaid@multnomah.edu or text or call (503) 251-5335.
You can access your aid offer through the MyFinAid.
1. View your estimated bill
View your estimated bill after you have been offered financial aid for the school year. You can view your estimated billing through your Self-Service login. Reviewing your bill will help you know how much your costs will be at Multnomah each semester.
If you need additional help paying your bill, be sure to look into other gift aid and loan options.
2. Accept or Decline Your Loans
If you need to borrow loans, compare your options. This will help you find the best loan for you.
When you know which loan(s) you’d like to borrow, you will need to accept or decline your offered loans by accessing your financial aid offer through MyFinAid.
Select the appropriate academic year from the drop-down list.
Click the Accept Award Offer tab. Decide how much of your Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loan Eligibility you want to borrow for the full year, and follow the instructions.
Click Submit.
If you accept your Direct Subsidized or Unsubsidized Loan and you’re a new borrower, you must complete both direct loan entrance counseling and a Master Promissory Note (MPN). Be sure to select “Complete Loan Agreement” to complete the MPN and “Complete Loan Counseling” to access the counseling session. These are two distinct separate steps on the website of studentaid.gov. Select Oregon as the School State when completing these requirements. You will need reference information for two people with different U.S. addresses.
3. Complete Verification
About 1 out of 4 FAFSA filers must provide additional information to verify the accuracy of their income, family size, and other FAFSA data. This process is called Financial Aid Verification. Check to see if you need to provide additional information by looking at your financial aid requirements in MyFinAid (see step #8 below).
4. Report Other Assistance
Let us know about any assistance you are receiving from outside of Multnomah that is not listed on your financial aid offer.
To report private grants, scholarships, or employer reimbursement, please reach out to your Financial Aid Counselor at finaid@multnomah.edu.
To report military benefits please complete the Military Benefits Verification form.
5. Notify Financial Aid of Changes in Enrollment Assumptions
Enrollment and housing assumptions were used to prepare your financial aid package offer and were listed on the top of your offer. If you enroll in less than the number of credits listed on your award, your aid will be reviewed and some adjustments may be necessary. Notify the financial aid office of changes in your anticipated enrollment by emailing finaid@multnomah.edu.
6. Sign up for a Payment Plan
You may enroll in a monthly payment plan to help you pay month by month. Payment plans are available for the Fall semester after July 10th. Please coordinate with the Student Accounts team for payment plans.
7. Find a Campus Job
Look for an on-campus job with our HR listings for Student Employment.
8. Check Your Status
View the status of your documents and requirements through your Financial Aid Requirements channel in MyFinAid.
9. Release Information
While privacy laws prohibit us from sharing financial aid information with your parents, spouse, or other third parties, you may authorize others to view such information if you would like to give them permission via our FERPA Consent form.
Compare Loans
Most students take out loans to help pay a portion of their school bill. Weigh your options to make sure you can manage the loans you borrow.
Refer to your financial aid award to see what loans you’re eligible to borrow. On your award, the category “PLUS/Private Loan eligibility” is the suggested amount your parent can borrow from Direct PLUS or that you may pursue through a private loan.
Which loan is best for you?
Compare federal student loans at the Federal Student Aid website.
Multnomah’s advice
While each student will need to compare the loans to see what his or her best options are, we would first recommend the Direct Subsidized Loans, and then Direct Unsubsidized Loans before considering Private and or Parent Loan options.
What’s the average student loan debt?
The average student loan debt of Multnomah borrowers who started as first-time undergraduate students and who graduated between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019, was $38,286. (About 73% of graduates from the class of 2019 borrowed a student loan.) Assuming a 6.8% interest rate and 10 years to repay their loans, average CAS student borrowers will make monthly loan payments of about $439. Multnomah’s most recent cohort default rate was 7.4% compared to the national cohort default rate of 10.1%.
How much should you borrow?
It’s important to avoid borrowing more than you’ll be able to repay after graduation. A reasonable monthly student loan payment would be 8-10% of your monthly income.
Check out the Budgeting and Loan Repayment Calculator information offered by the U.S. Department of Education. These are good tools to help you plan your expenses and loan debt.
Take a look at this chart based on a 10-year repayment period to see what your monthly payments could look like. Payments reflect a 6.8% interest rate.
Sample loan repayment:
| Amount Borrowed | Estimated Monthly Payment |
| $3,500 | $50 |
| $5,500 | $63 |
| $7,500 | $86 |
| $10,500 | $121 |
| $15,000 | $173 |
| $18,500 | $213 |
| $23,000 | $265 |
| $31,000 | $357 |
| $40,000 | $460 |
| $50,000 | $575 |
| $60,000 | $690 |
| $65,500 | $754 |
| $80,000 | $920 |
| $100,000 | $1,151 |