School certification is a process that involves your school verifying your loan details and certifying that it matches their records. Earnest will send your loan details directly to your school to have the loan certified.
What information will my school verify?
- Loan amount - your school will add the loan amount you’re requesting from Earnest to any other loans/financial aid to ensure your funding does not exceed your cost of attendance (COA). For more information about the cost of attendance, check here.
- Your enrollment status
- Your graduation date
- Your grades - your school may require that you meet satisfactory academic progress (SAP) to be eligible for funding. If you’re in your first semester, you’ill meet satisfactory academic progress since no grades will be on file yet.
- Disbursement date - your school will let us know when they want to receive the loan funds.
Your school will then certify your loan in one of the following ways:
Certified: No changes need to be made to the loan
Certified with changes: They may lessen the loan amount due to the cost of attendance and other aid/loans, or make minor adjustments to ensure the loan matches the school information. Please note, your school will never ask to have the loan increased.
No certification: Your school will not accept the loan.
We'll let you know via email once your school certifies your loan. If you need to make any changes to the total certified amount (i.e., you’re approved for more or less than what you need), please contact your Financial Aid office. The University is the only one that can make adjustments to the final certified amount.
Is there anything I need to do?
We'll let you know via email once your school certifies your loan. There may be some steps that your school will need you to complete before they’ll certify your loan. Some schools may require a short, informational course on accepting a private loan, or an orientation class. Your school should reach out if they require these steps before certifying your loan. If you’re waiting on the certification for more than two weeks, we recommend contacting your school's financial aid office to confirm if they need any additional steps from you.
How long does school certification take?
The timing for this can vary by school. Some schools certify loans within a few weeks of classes beginning, while others may have a 3-5 week processing timeframe no matter when they receive your loan information. Our recommendation is to apply and finalize your Earnest in-school student loan as soon as you can. This will allow ample time for your school to certify the loan and set up the disbursement of your funds, so you’re ready for your upcoming semester.