Once you leave school, drop enrollment below half time status, or graduate: you have a grace period of nine months before you have to start paying back your Perkins Loan.

Heartland ECSI manages all Perkins accounts for American University. Their website www.heartlandecsi.com offers web access to your Perkins Loan information as well as the tools to manage the loan online. Borrowers can  use this site to view their current and past payment information, receive electronic billing notices, make a payment through a wide variety of payment methods, obtain important news, other information, and complete needed forms.

Once in repayment, Perkins Loans are eligible for deferment, forbearance and cancelation. Applications for these options are available on the Heartland ECSI website. Perkins Loans that go into default are subject to acceleration (entire balance becomes due at once), fees, collection costs, wage garnishment and assignment to the Department of Education. Failure to pay will result in a stop on your account. This stop will remain until the balance has been resolved.

Perkins loan borrowers are eligible for a one-time Loan Rehabilitation Program, if their loan has fallen into default. This program allows students to enter into a 9-month repayment arrangement. Upon successful completion of 9 consecutive on-time monthly payments, all negative credit reporting is removed and the loan is no longer considered delinquent. After 6 months of payments, borrowers are eligible to have their past-due stop removed with AU. The Loan Rehabilitation plan can be setup with the collection agency currently in possession of the loan, or by contacting us directly. The Loan Rehabilitation Program is available to borrowers one time over the life of the Perkins loan.

Federal regulations require that institutions offer exit counseling to federal student loan borrowers who are graduating, withdrawing from the university, or dropping below half-time enrollment.

Exit counseling covers: