Apply for Loans

1. Accept your Federal Direct Subsidized or Unsubsidized Loans in Financial Aid Self-Service* (under the "Award Offer" section). If you have not already responded to the required question under the "Home" section, you must do that before you will be able to accept/deny loans.
   
2. (First-time borrowers) Complete Entrance Loan Counseling, available by logging in to studentaid.gov (under the student’s Federal Student Aid account). Under the Loans and Grants menu, click "Loan Entrance Counseling". Under the appropriate section (undergraduate/graduate) click "Log in to Start" and follow the on-screen instructions.
   
   
3. (First-time borrowers) Complete a Master Promissory Note for Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loans, available by logging in to studentaid.gov (under the student’s Federal Student Aid account). Under the Loans and Grants menu, click "Master Promissory Note (MPN)". Under the appropriate section (undergraduate/graduate) click "Log in to Start" and follow the on-screen instructions.

1. Review the Health Professions Loan Application and Solicitation Disclosure.
   
   
2. Accept the Loan: Accept this loan in Financial Aid Self-Service* (under the "Award Offer" section). If you have not already responded to the required question under the "Home" section, you must do that before you will be able to accept/deny loans.
   
   
3. Complete Entrance Counseling and Disclosures: Those who have accepted a Health Professions Loan will receive an email from Heartland ECSI (Drake’s loan servicer) with instructions for completing entrance counseling and Regulation Z Disclosures.
   
   
4. Complete a Master Promissory Note: Those who have accepted a Health Professions Loan will receive an email from Heartland ECSI (Drake’s loan servicer) with instructions for completing a Master Promissory Note.

***PLUS Loan Applications for the 2025-26 Year Become Available in April***

1. Parent completes a Direct PLUS Loan Application for Parents by logging in at studentaid.gov (with the parent’s Federal Student Aid account). Under the Loans and Grants menu, click "PLUS Loans: Grad PLUS and Parent PLUS". In the section for parents, Click "Learn More" and follow the on-screen instructions to apply.
   
   
2. If a Parent PLUS Loan has been approved and you do not have an active Parent PLUS Master Promissory Note (MPN) on file, the parent should complete a Parent PLUS MPN at studentaid.gov. Under the Loans and Grants menu, click "Master Promissory Note (MPN)". In the section for parents, click "Log In To Start" and follow the on-screen instructions. 

***PLUS Loan Applications for the 2025-26 Year Become Available in April***

1. Student completes a Grad PLUS Loan Application by logging in at studentaid.gov (with the student's Federal Student Aid account). Under the Loans and Grants menu, click "PLUS Loans: Grad PLUS and Parent PLUS". Under the Graduate/Professional student section, click "Learn More" and follow the on-screen instructions to apply.
   
   
2. First-time Grad PLUS Loan borrowers must complete entrance counseling as a graduate student at studentaid.gov. Under the Loans and Grants menu, click "Loan Entrance Counseling". In the Graduate/Professional student section, click "Log in to Start" and follow the on-screen instructions.
   
   
3. If a Grad PLUS Loan has been approved and you do not have an active Graduate PLUS Master Promissory Note (MPN) on file, the student should complete a Grad PLUS MPN at studentaid.gov. Under the Loans and Grants menu, click "Master Promissory Note (MPN)". In the Graduate/Professional student section, click "Log In to Select MPN Type" and follow the on-screen instructions. 

We encourage students to compare loan offers from multiple lenders to get the best terms available to them. In an effort to help students find the best private loan terms available to them, Drake maintains a list of preferred lenders. These lenders are evaluated annually based on loans made to Drake students with respect to interest rates, fees, approval rates, and other loan features.

Information from our most recent lender evaluation for undergraduate borrowers is published in Drake’s Undergraduate Private Lender Ranking and Methodology - 2025. (Graduate and professional students at Drake primarily utilize federal student loan options. Due to low private loan volume at the graduate level, a similar evaluation is not possible.)

You can visit Drake’s Preferred Lender List to compare loan products and access loan applications. When selecting a loan product, ensure that its repayment terms align with your educational plans. (For example, if you are in a 6-year program or plan to attend graduate school, you may wish to avoid a loan product that has a maximum in-school deferment period of 5 years, as the loan will enter repayment before you finish school.) Students may borrow from any private lender of their choosing (including those not named on Drake’s Preferred Lender list) without fear of penalty or unnecessary delay.

Student loan refinancing offers borrowers the opportunity to pay off one or more existing loans with a new private loan, ideally with a lower interest rate. While this has potential to lower payments and/or save students a significant amount of money, there are many factors that need to be carefully considered.

Federal loan consolidation allows students with more than one qualifying federal student loan to combine those loans into a single new federal consolidation loan with an interest rate equal to the weighted average of the loans being consolidated. Federal loan consolidation can make other federal loans (such as Perkins, Health Professions, or FFELP) eligible for benefits associated with Federal Direct Loans, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness and income-driven repayment plans.

Learn more