Students enrolled in a degree-seeking program who are eligible for financial aid may add the cost of certification exams and fees to loan requests.^[1] Follow the steps below if you are interested in applying student loans towards some or all of your certification costs.

Step 1: Determine the total amount you will need to pay (and when) towards certification during your time at Relay. You can find the estimated total certification costs for your state by referencing your campus Certification Guide. Certification guides are located on the Student Support Center site under the “Campus, National Programs & Alumni Page” → Campus Teacher Certification Requirements.

Step 2: Decide whether you plan to use student loans for all of your certification costs, or if you plan to pay for some costs out of pocket. Take note of the dates in which you will incur certification costs, as well as additional costs you might want to consider that are not listed in your campus certification guide (ex: exam prep resources such as books, workshops, or programs).

Step 3: Take note of the loan disbursement calendar to determine when you’ll need to request loans. Once students have submitted all required documents, it typically takes one to two weeks for us to process the loan requests and disburse funds to student accounts. A few notes on loan disbursements:

The earliest we can disburse federal financial aid for any term is the first disbursement date listed in the table below.

• Direct Loans are processed during the term they are requested for and will be disbursed in two equal halves no earlier than the dates in the table below. However, keep in mind that your first disbursement will be applied towards tuition. For example:
  • If you request a $1500 loan by July 1 ($1000 for tuition, $500 for certification), it will be disbursed as follows:
    • Disbursement 1 (July 16): $750 applied towards tuition
    • Disbursement 2 (August 13): $250 applied towards tuition, $500 refunded to student that can be applied towards certification
  • Note that students who are not participating in Summer coursework will not be eligible for aid until the fall.

Step 4: Request your student loan. To request a federal student loan to help pay for certification costs and other costs of attendance at Relay, please complete the steps to request a student loan here. If you have any questions about loans, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

^[1]  Non-degree-seeking and non-matriculated students are not eligible for student loans.