Loan Repayment

Dear Mellon Fellow:

The packet in the link below provides information about the loan repayment facet of your Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. As a Mellon fellow, you are entitled to have up to $10,000 of your undergraduate and graduate education debt through designated educational loan programs repaid provided you enter a PhD program in a Mellon-approved field within 39 months of your graduation from Emory. Only undergraduate debt accrued through Perkins, Stafford, or college loan programs qualify for repayment. In this letter, I want to review the repayment schedule and the procedures that we have established to make certain that your loans are repaid in a timely manner.

Loan Repayment Formula

The Mellon Foundation has stipulated the following loan repayment formula:

• For each of the first four years of full-time graduate work leading to a Ph.D. in a Mellon-designated field, the Mellon Foundation, through Emory University, will repay one-eighth (up to $1,250) of your undergraduate/graduate debt. If you pursue full-time graduate studies for up to four years, you will have up to $5,000 of your eligible undergraduate loans repaid by the Mellon Foundation.
• Upon completing the Ph.D., the Foundation will repay an additional $5,000 of your undergraduate/graduate loans. If you do not use the full loan repayment for undergraduate loans, the funds may be used to repay certain graduate school loans.

Emory University has established the following procedures to assist you in guaranteeing that the loans are repaid:

At the close of each year of full-time graduate study, you must complete the top half of the enclosed Graduate Study Verification (GSV) form and ask the Registrar at the graduate school you attend to complete the bottom portion of the form.

In addition, your lender needs to complete the Supplier Information and ACH Authorization Forms.

Please have your lender submit the completed form to you, at which point you may include it in your loan repayment packet with your other forms.

The repayment packet should include:

• Completed forms
• Official copy of your graduate transcript
• Statement of your total loan indebtedness with the account number(s) of loan(s) selected for repayment
• Name, address, and phone number of your lender

You should be able to obtain this statement from your lender. (Please note: If your loans are in deferment in excess of $1,250, please speak with your lender to determine whether a third party making a payment has the potential to jeopardize your deferment status.)

You should then send all documents to the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) Program at Emory University. When they are received, the MMUF Program at Emory will arrange to have the appropriate portion of your undergraduate debt paid. The MMUF Program at Emory will send you a confirmation each time a portion of your debt is repaid so that you will have documentation of the repayment.

You can download the GSV and Supplier forms from the above links. You can also receive a copy of these forms each year by requesting them from the MMUF Program at Emory.

While the Mellon Foundation funds the Loan Repayment Program, its administration has been assigned to Emory University. If you have any questions or concerns about the process, please contact Professor Dianne Stewart, Faculty Coordinator of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program.

Congratulations on your progress, and best wishes for the future.

Sincerely,

Dianne Stewart
MMUF Faculty Coordinator

A. Before graduation, Mellon Fellows should:

1.  Discuss all Mellon loan repayment/deferment procedures with the coordinator.
2. Verify lender/servicer names, addresses, and telephone numbers.
3. Understand the Fellow's responsibility for completing necessary forms promptly. If loans are sold, Fellows must notify the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program at Emory of the new lender and address.

B. Once the Fellow has completed the Loan Repayment Packet, they will forward the packet yearly by uploading it through the form below.

Upload the Loan Repayment Packet Here.

The Loan Repayment Packet should include:

• The Mellon Foundation Graduate Study Verification (GSV) Form
• The transcript showing full-time graduate study
• The statement of total loan indebtedness from the lender (with name, address, telephone number of the lender, and loan account number(s))
• Supplier Information and ACH Authorization forms (Your lender needs to complete this form and return it to you before you submit the Loan Repayment Packet. You only need to submit this completed form the first year you request loan repayment.)

Please note: If your loans are in deferment in excess of $1,250, please speak with your lender to determine whether a third party making a payment has the potential to jeopardize your deferment status.

C. The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program at Emory University will prepare a Reimbursement Form to pay the lender directly. The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program at Emory University will retain copies of all checks mailed to lenders and follow up with Fellows if they have any questions.