Alien Registration Number To verify the immigration status of U.S. permanent residents and other eligible noncitizens, A-numbers are collected. A-numbers are assigned by the INS to all legal immigrants.
ACH - (Automated Clearing House) A process by which monthly payments can be made to outstanding loan debt directly from the borrower's bank account. Authorization from the borrower is required to establish this process.
Blended Interest Rate Some NJCLASS Loans carry two interest rates, the original rate charged at the time of approval, and the step-up rate effective in the 13th or 49th month of repayment. (Refer to your original disclosure for specific information on rates and whether the step-up rate applies). These two interest rates are blended proportionately depending on each loan's month of repayment. This results in the true cost of that loan. This blended rate is used to arrive at a weighted average.
Co-borrower Additional borrower whose income and credit score may be required to qualify for the loan and whose name appears on documents with equal legal obligation to repay the debt. A co-borrower's obligations are the same as the borrower's. Co-borrowers are responsible for the entire amount of the debt.
Co-obligor One who binds oneself (by contract or legal agreement) with one or more people to fulfill an obligation.
Consolidation A process in which several loans are paid in full and a new single loan with new terms and conditions is made. The cosigners to the original debt (sometimes called the "underlying loans") are released since those loans are now paid-in-full. The borrowers and cosigners for the consolidation are responsible for the entire new consolidation loan amount, regardless of their obligation to the original, underlying loans.
Cosigner A cosigner is an additional applicant to the loan who meets HESAA's income and creditworthiness criteria for granting an NJCLASS loan. A cosigner is required when a borrower does not meet the criteria. A cosigner's obligations are the same as the borrower. Cosigners are responsible for the entire amount of the loan debt.
Default A loan is in default when the borrower fails to pay several regular installments on time (i.e., payments overdue by 180 days) or otherwise fails to meet the terms and conditions of the loan.
Delinquency A late payment on an NJCLASS loan. Delinquency begins the first day after the due date of the first missed payment. The due date of the first payment is established by the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA).
Eligible Loans Both the fixed-rate and variable-rate NJCLASS Loans may be included in the consolidation loan. To be considered eligible for consolidation, the loan must be in regular monthly repayment status. The student for which the loan(s) were obtained must be out of school. Borrowers may only consolidate loans where they were originally the borrower or co-borrower. In other words, cosigners to the original debt may not take over the borrower's responsibility through consolidation.
Eligible Non-Citizen Someone who is not a U.S. citizen but is eligible for federal student aid. Eligible noncitizens include a U.S. permanent resident who has a permanent resident card (I-551) or a conditional permanent resident (I-551C), or a noncitizen with a Departure record (I-94) from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) showing any one of the following designations: "Refugee," "Asylum Granted," "Indefinite Parole," "Humanitarian Parole," or "Cuban-Haitian Entrant."
Joint Cosigner Is an additional cosigner applying along with the cosigner. The joint cosigner's obligations are the same as those of the cosigner.
Loan Reference Number This number is assigned to an online NJCLASS application once minimal data has been saved or submitted. This number, when used in conjunction with an SSN associated with the application, is a security feature that allows all parties to the loan to access the application. You should protect this number and share it only with those who need access to the application data.
Promissory Note A written document in which a borrower agrees (promises) to pay back money to a lender according to specified terms. A written promise to pay a certain sum of money, at a future time, unconditionally.
State of Legal Residence The State of Legal Residence of a student is defined in terms of domicile. Domicile is defined as the place where a person has his or her true, fixed, permanent home and principal establishment, and to which, whenever he or she is absent, he or she has the intention of returning.
Total Annual Income Your current documented income. (You need not disclose alimony, child support, public assistance aid, or separate maintenance income if you do not wish to have it considered as a basis for repaying this obligation).
Weighted Average Interest Rate A method of computing interest where the importance of each loan's rate is reflected. The larger the loan balance the heavier that loan's interest rate will be in the averaging of all the rates. For instance, when averaging the rates of a $2,000 loan and a $25,000 loan, the overall (weighted) average will be closer to the rate of the $25,000 loan than that of the $2,000.