If you are a college administrator at an institution that certifies student loans through ELMOne, you will now see all active and prior MEFA Loans within that platform from July 1, 2019 onward. 

We've answered some questions below that your college or university may be asking about this transition.

What does this mean if we are already working with ELMOne?

You will now see and have the ability to process all MEFA Loans within your ELMOne system. 

Do we need to take any action?

All MEFA Loan information is pre-loaded and is now flowing into ELMOne. Depending on whether your school set-up is file-based, or you certify online through ELMOne, the following will apply:

  • If your school is a file-based ELM school, you can update your Financial Aid Management (FAM) system to include MEFA Loans in your regular ELMOne file.
  • If your school certifies online through ELMOne, the MEFA Loans will begin to display in your ELMOne certification request queue. You will certify MEFA Loans via ELMOne the same way you certify your other loans in ELMOne.
What about the pending certification requests and non-fully disbursed MEFA Loans?

MEFA will send all in-process loan data into ELMOne to centralize the processing. Note: If you do NOT want these loans through ELMOne, please let us know.

Will I be able to see the previous year MEFA Loans on ELM?

MEFA will load all data going back to July 1, 2019.

What are we authorizing when certifying a MEFA Loan through ELM?

By certifying MEFA Loans through ELM, you are authorizing on behalf of your institution that you have ensured that each of the following statements is true:

  1. The MEFA Loan has been certified for an amount equal to or less than 100% of the student's cost of attendance less other financial aid received for the academic period.
  2. The student is admitted or enrolled at least half time in an accredited degree-granting program and is making Satisfactory Academic Progress as defined by your institution.
  3. The student borrower and co-borrower(s), if any, to the best of your knowledge, have not defaulted on an education loan and have not failed to refund an education grant required to be refunded.
  4. The student borrower and co-borrower(s), if any, are not currently in arrears to your institution for a total of more than $100 for a previous year for which your institution is demanding payment.

As part of the certification process and as a reminder that these certifications are deemed made by you when you certify a MEFA Loan, the loan record within ELM will be deemed that you have met the conditions outlined above and as such, the value "Authorized" will be added to the Application ID within the Lender Use Only field.

Can MEFA Loans be used for summer enrollment?

Yes, students may borrow a MEFA Loan for the summer session if they are enrolled less than half time, provided they are enrolled at least half time during the academic year. Summer loans may be certified using the student's enrollment status for the current academic year.

Should schools be processing MEFA Loans as student loans or parent/sponsor loans?

The MEFA Undergraduate Loan is considered a family loan, and the student is not the primary borrower on the loan. For MEFA Undergraduate Loans, the borrower data will be different than the student data. Colleges should look for, and upload, borrower data into your loan management system when certifying MEFA UG loans.  

As a school, you can view borrower data in three ways: 

  • Via the borrower Information section of the Certification Details record
  • Via the SP2 file for those profiled to receive a CL response file from ELM
  • Via the Certifications Report via ELMOne (ELM NSC can assist a school's setup)

If your school is unable to add separate borrower data to your loan management system, we recommend you certify MEFA Loans manually in ELMOne. Please Note: For MEFA Graduate Loans, student information is populated in both the student and borrower fields.

How do we set up loan periods?

Depending on your certification method, you will either set up a loan period on your FAM system or use templates in ELMOne.

What is MEFA's Lender Code? Guarantor Code? Program Codes?

MEFA's Lender Code is 733921. MEFA's 's Guarantor Code is E10.

MEFA's Program Codes are as follows:

MEFA Undergraduate 15-yr Immediate: G67
MEFA Undergraduate 10-yr Immediate: M27
MEFA Undergraduate Interest-Only: R01
MEFA Undergraduate Deferred: G61
MEFA Undergraduate Deferred with Co-Borrower Release Provision: M26

MEFA Graduate Interest-Only: R02
MEFA Graduate Deferred: G62

Can a school enter $0 for the Estimated Financial Aid Amount?

No. Schools cannot enter $0 for EFA. If the student's EFA is $0, we recommend entering $1 in order for the loan to process.

Are there additional requirements when certifying a MEFA Loan through ELM?

We require that you enter each student's Cost of Attendance and Estimated Financial Aid Amount when certifying using ELMOne or CommonLine File. Additionally, the certified MEFA Loan amount cannot exceed the Cost of Attendance minus the Estimated Financial Aid Amount. We cannot commit to or disburse a MEFA Loan until these criteria have been met.

How should we handle refunds for MEFA versus ELM NDN disbursed loans?

You can submit refund requests through ELMOne for all loans, regardless of who initially deposited the funds into your school's account. The actual funds returned from your school, however, will need to be sent to the entity (MEFA or ELM NDN) that originally disbursed the funds. ELM NDN is not able to accept returned funds or data for disbursements originated by MEFA. These funds, if received by you, will be returned to you with a message to return the funds directly to MEFA.

Will schools get a response file after all the MEFA Loan data migrates to ELM?

Yes, schools will get a response file for certification requests and loan updates, as long as they have indicated that preference in their ELM profile set-up.

Is MEFA still disbursing only on Fridays?

Yes, MEFA is still disbursing only on Fridays for non-NDN disbursements. For NDN disbursements, MEFA will move to daily disbursement.

When will NDN disbursement be available?

NDN is now available for MEFA Loan disbursements. Any school set up to disburse through ELM NDN will automatically migrate over to NDN disbursement, and, as a result, any disbursement set up with MEFA will automatically deactivate.

If you have additional questions, the ELM National Service Center team is standing by ready to assist. You may contact them at nsc@elmresources.com or at (866) 524-8198.