Sheri Garrett is the financial aid adviser for law students. She will be your contact for all aspects of your student account, including payments, charges, bills, financial aid, refunds, payment plans and student ID’s. She would love to help you!

Sheri Garrett
Location: Ingalls Hall-Ground Floor
Hours: M-F, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
205-726-2905
Sheri.Garrett@samford.edu

Government Loans

For students pursuing their professional graduate degrees, the main forms of financial aid are the loan programs through the federal government. These are the Graduate Federal Direct unsubsidized loan and the Graduate PLUS loan. The Federal Direct loan is limited to $20,500 per year for the JD graduate program. We are able to offer the Federal Direct loan and supplement with the Graduate PLUS up to the cost of attendance each semester - minus scholarship awarded. Currently the Federal Direct loan has an interest rate of around 8.08% with an origination fee of around 1%, and the Grad PLUS loan has a rate of around 9.05% with an origination fee of around 4%. Both of these loans will accrue interest while you are in school but will not require payment until six months after you graduate or cease to be enrolled as at least a half-time student.

Private Loans

Although government loans are recommended, if you plan to use private lenders, please have these lenders in place by July.

Follow these steps to request your aid at studentaid.gov by June 1.

1.) Complete the FAFSA (by the preceding June of every year that you are enrolled at Cumberland). It generally takes one to two weeks for this information to be processed and forwarded to the schools you select.

• To receive federal loans, you must have a current year FAFSA on file with Samford University. For summer school you will complete the 2024-2025 FAFSA, and for the fall and spring of the coming year, you will complete the 2025-2026 FAFSA.D. candidates are automatically considered “independent” for FAFSA purposes. Therefore, indicate that you are attending graduate school and are independent. You do not need to enter your parents’ financial information.
• Make sure to request that your FAFSA be sent to Samford University by entering the Samford federal code: 001036.
• If you plan to attend the Pre-1L Summer School, you will need to update your 2024-2025 FAFSA by listing your new school and grade level as a graduate student, indicating you are now independent. You will also need to complete a Summer Financial Aid Request form found on the Samford One Stop webpage. Click the 2024-2025 Financial Aid Forms drawer to find the form.

2.) Complete Loan Entrance Counseling as soon as you have completed the FAFSA.

3.) Complete Master Promissory Notes (MPNs) for both the graduate Direct and PLUS Loans.

Check your Samford email account for your award letter.

The email will contain instructions for accepting your loan offer online via the Samford student portal. **Continue to monitor your Samford email account because that is the way One Stop will communicate with you while you are a Samford student!**

Estimate Your Financial Needs

It is very important to create your own budget before accepting your financial aid award. Tuition and fees are not the only fixed costs for which a student is responsible each academic year. The remaining items in the Cost of Attendance calculation can be used as a guide, but your particular financial need may vary from the amounts listed. For example, if you have a roommate or live with a spouse or relative while in law school, you could borrow less or eliminate the amount listed for room and board.

Accept Your Financial Aid Award

After completing the FAFSA, Entrance Counseling, and the MPNs at studentaid.gov, follow the instructions below to accept your loans in the Financial Aid Portal in June or July when they become available. To accept your loans, you will need to log in to the Financial Aid Portal. Go to samford.edu/law, scroll to the bottom of the page under Quick Links, and click MySamford.

1. Log into MySamford
2. Click on “One Stop.”
3. Click on “Financial Aid.” (not Financial Portal)
4. Click on “Award Offer.” (making sure the correct Award Year is displaying at the top)
5. For any Loans, you must decline, accept, or modify the amounts by clicking the drop-down menu by each offer.
6. Click the “Submit” button at the bottom of the page.

To receive funds and make payments, access the Financial Portal by going to MySamford/One Stop/Financial Portal (not Financial Aid). All accepted loan amounts will come directly to Samford and will apply to your account 10 days prior to the start of class in most cases. A refund will be generated for any loan amount over and above your university charges. The quickest way to receive your refund is by direct deposit.

How to Sign Up for Direct Deposit

Have your routing and bank account numbers ready.

1. Log into the MySamford and click on “One Stop” and then “Financial Porta” (not Financial Aid)
2. Click on “Electronic Refunds” on the right of the screen.
3. Click on “Set-Up Account” and simply follow the steps for the process online.

Check Refunds

If you prefer a check refund, it will be mailed within a few days of processing. Therefore, be sure to update your address in Banner in the MySamford Portal no later than two weeks prior to Orientation.

Setting Up Payment Plans

For those students not taking out loans, Payment Plans offer the option to pay over the course of the term with a $100 enrollment fee per semester. You must enroll each semester that you plan to use this option during the specified enrollment period.

To set up the payment plan, log in to your Financial Portal at MySamford/One Stop/Financial Portal.

More financial aid information is available online..

Making Payments

For students using loans, payment to your Samford account will be made automatically.

For those paying their tuition at the beginning of a semester (not using the payment plan), the full payment of tuition and fees for Fall 2025 is due Sept. 2, 2025. For students with payment plans, payments are due by the 5th of each month. A late fee of $150 will be accessed for any late payments.

Full payment of tuition and fees for Summer 2025 is due June 6, 2025.

Bills can be paid by going online through the Financial Portal at MySamford/One Stop/Financial Portal. In-person payments must be made by check or money order at the Samford One Stop located in Ingalls Hall. Students can view “Account Activity” to see when charges and payments are processed.