We participate in the Federal Direct Student Loan program. Direct loans are low-interest loans to students and parents to help pay for the cost of a student’s education after high school.
To apply for a loan, you must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and submit supporting documentation.
Check your action items in Workday, which can be accessed in the top-right corner of Workday, to find out which steps need to be completed. These can include but are not limited to:
Parent Loan Undergraduate Student (PLUS) loans are federal loans that parents of dependent undergraduate students can use to help pay for college or career school. To qualify, you must be a dependent undergraduate student enrolled at least half time in an eligible program at an eligible school.
PLUS Loans are available through the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program.
If you have not received your financial aid package and your state and designated tuition is due, you may be eligible for an emergency tuition loan. Contact the Student Accounting Office to apply.
If you have received a loan, before you withdraw, graduate, or drop below half-time attendance, you must complete an exit counseling session for your Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans. The counseling session provides information about how to manage your student loans after college.
Enacted in July 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) made significant changes in federal student loan programs as a part of the shifts in fiscal policy. While there are no changes to federal student loans for the 2025–26 academic year, changes resulting from the legislation are slated for July 1, 2026.
TSTC is continuing to track all of these changes and plans to update this site as more clarification is released. In the meantime, please note:
Important disclaimer: The information contained on this page is provided by TSTC financial aid staff to orient students to the changing landscape of federal student loan programs. While it is based on our good faith understanding of the evolving federal standards, it is not official guidance and should not be regarded by students as definitive. Students should refer to federal governmental sources for official guidance. See studentaid.gov for more information.
The FY 2020 default rates were calculated using the cohort of student loan borrowers who entered repayment on their William D. Ford Federal Direct Loans or Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) between Oct. 1, 2019, and
Sept. 30, 2020, and who defaulted between Oct. 1, 2019, and Sept. 30, 2022.
As expected, FY 2020 cohort default rates were significantly impacted by the pause on federal student loan payments that began March 13, 2020. During the pause, borrowers with ED-held student loans were not required to make any payments, and no borrowers with ED-held loans entered default. Fewer than 200 borrowers with non-ED-held FFEL loans entered default because those loans were not eligible for the payment
pause.
Some schools have a small number of student loan borrowers entering repayment. At other schools, only a small portion of the student body takes out student loans. In such cases, the cohort default rate should be interpreted with caution.
From FY 2016 to FY 2019, TSTC’s rate dropped from 8% to 1.7%. The chart below shows how TSTC compares with other schools and that it is below the national average.
More information is available at Official Cohort Default Rates for Schools.
