UNIVERSITY OF AKRON SCHOOL OF LAW

Important information about financial planning and loans

We encourage you to complete a new, online financial-awareness counseling module that:

• provides the basics of financial management;
• shows your current federal student loan debt (and your other student loan debt if you enter information about your private student loans); and
• provides you an estimate of what your student loan debt is likely to be at the time you leave school.

Financial awareness counseling at StudentLoans.gov

While the counseling contains some of the same information in Entrance and Exit Counseling, it does not meet the regulatory requirements for Entrance or Exit Counseling.

You still must complete Entrance Counseling and Exit Counseling.

The financial-awareness counseling will show you how to:

• Understand Your Loans – Log in to see your existing federal student loan debt based on the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) data. You can enter additional loans that are not reflected in the NSLDS. Outside the log-in, you can enter your student loans.
• Manage Your Budget – This section includes an in-school budgeting tool that compares living expenses vs. your current income. You can export your data to an Excel spreadsheet.
• Plan to Repay – This section includes a budgeting tool which compares living expenses vs. estimated income after leaving school and calculates monthly payment amounts for each of the basic repayment plans. This section also includes a tool that allows you to see the effect of paying extra toward your loans to reduce your overall debt and the amount of interest paid over time.
• Avoid Default – This section provides tips on how to postpone repayment or lower monthly payments, if needed.
• Make Finances a Priority – This section discusses the development of a financial plan and making financial decisions.
• Print a Summary Page – This page gives a summary of the data used and/or entered and can be printed.

More tools:

• CashCourse
  A nonprofit, independent site affiliated with UA that helps students take charge of their money. Offers free planning tools and advice.
• MAX by AccessLex® 
  A comprehensive personal finance program created exclusively for law students. MAX combines in-person workshops, online and virtual programming, and one-on-one counseling to put you on the path to professional and financial success. FREE from nonprofit AccessLex Institute® in partnership with the University of Akron School of Law.