To complete the Master Promissory Note, log in at StudentAid.gov/mpn with your FSA ID, choose the MPN that matches your loan type, fill in your personal information, school, and two references, read the terms, and sign electronically by typing your full legal name. The whole session takes about 30 minutes and must be finished in one sitting, because the portal does not save partial applications.1Federal Student Aid. Master Promissory Note By signing, you agree to repay every dollar disbursed under the note, plus interest and fees, to the U.S. Department of Education. One signed MPN can cover multiple loan disbursements for up to ten years, so most undergraduates complete it once as freshmen and never touch it again.
What to Have Ready Before You Log In
Because you cannot pause and return, gather everything first. A missing phone number or address mid-session means starting the form over.
- Your FSA ID username and password. This is your StudentAid.gov account, tied to your Social Security number and date of birth, and it serves as your electronic signature. If you don’t already have one from the FAFSA, create it at StudentAid.gov/fsa-id.
- The exact official name of your school. You select it from a federal database inside the form, so a nickname or abbreviation won’t do.
- Two personal references who have known you for at least three years and live at different U.S. addresses from each other. You need full names, current street addresses, and phone numbers for both. The first should be a parent or legal guardian. References carry no financial responsibility for your loan; they exist so your servicer can locate you if you move and stop responding during repayment.2U.S. Department of Education. Federal Student Aid Master Promissory Note – Direct Subsidized Loans and Direct Unsubsidized Loans
- Your current employer’s name and contact information, if you have one.
- Your legal permanent address and a working email address for loan correspondence.
Entrance Counseling Is a Separate Requirement
Signing the MPN does not, by itself, get money to your school. If this is your first federal student loan, you also have to complete entrance counseling before any funds can be disbursed.3Federal Student Aid. Direct Loan Counseling Entrance counseling is a separate online module at StudentAid.gov covering how federal loans work, how interest accrues, what repayment looks like, and what happens if you default. Plan on 20 to 30 minutes. You can finish it before or after the MPN, in either order, but nothing disburses until both are done. Returning borrowers who already completed entrance counseling for a prior loan do not have to repeat it.
Working Through the Online Form
Go to StudentAid.gov/mpn and sign in with your FSA ID. The page offers two MPNs: one for Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans, and one for Direct PLUS Loans. Pick the one that matches your situation. Most undergraduates need the Subsidized/Unsubsidized version. Parents borrowing for a dependent child and graduate students taking PLUS loans use the PLUS MPN instead.1Federal Student Aid. Master Promissory Note
Personal Information
The form opens by pulling your name, date of birth, and Social Security number from your FSA ID profile. Check every field against your legal identification. Small discrepancies, like a middle name shown as just a middle initial, can delay processing. Update your permanent address, phone number, and email if any of them have changed since you created the account.
School Selection
Search the federal database and select the college or university you plan to attend. This links your MPN to the financial aid office that will certify your enrollment and set your loan amount. If you expect to transfer before classes start, choose the school you’ll actually attend. A signed MPN can be reused at a new school later, so long as that school accepts active MPNs from other institutions.
Reference Information
Enter the full legal names, current street addresses, and primary phone numbers for your two references. Use street addresses rather than P.O. boxes where possible. The system validates these entries, and errors can flag your application for manual review. Confirm again that the two references live at different addresses from each other.2U.S. Department of Education. Federal Student Aid Master Promissory Note – Direct Subsidized Loans and Direct Unsubsidized Loans
Review the Terms
After the data sections, you reach the terms and conditions. Read them. The core commitment is straightforward: you promise to repay every loan disbursed under this MPN, plus interest and fees, regardless of whether you finish your degree, dislike your school, or struggle to find work after graduation.2U.S. Department of Education. Federal Student Aid Master Promissory Note – Direct Subsidized Loans and Direct Unsubsidized Loans
Signing and Submitting
To sign, type your full legal name exactly as it appears on the form. Your FSA ID acts as your electronic signature, so the moment you click submit, the agreement is legally binding. The portal then shows a confirmation page and offers a downloadable copy of the completed MPN. Save or print it right away for your records. Your school’s financial aid office gets notice through the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system, usually within one to two business days.4Federal Student Aid. Origination and Disbursement
What Happens After You Submit
Your school uses the COD system to confirm your enrollment and certify your loan amount based on your cost of attendance minus other aid. You do not pick the amount on the MPN itself; the school sets it within the federal limits for your year and dependency status. Once certified, funds are scheduled for disbursement at the start of the academic term, usually in at least two installments across the year.
Disbursed money goes to the school first and is applied to tuition, fees, and any on-campus housing you owe. If a credit balance remains after those charges, the school must pay it to you within 14 days.5eCFR. 34 CFR 668.164 Most schools pay refunds by direct deposit or check; setting up direct deposit in your student account portal is the fastest route.
How Long the MPN Stays Valid
A signed MPN is active for up to ten years, and you can receive additional loans under it during that period as long as your school is authorized to use it.1Federal Student Aid. Master Promissory Note If you transfer, your existing MPN generally carries over and the new school can use it without a fresh signature. Some schools choose not to accept a prior MPN and will ask you to sign a new one, so check with the new financial aid office after a transfer.
If You’re Completing a PLUS MPN Instead
The PLUS Loan MPN is a different form from the standard Subsidized/Unsubsidized MPN, and parents borrowing for a dependent undergraduate and graduate students borrowing PLUS loans each complete their own version at StudentAid.gov. The main difference in the process is a credit check: you must not have an adverse credit history to qualify.6Federal Student Aid. PLUS Loans
If the credit check comes back with an adverse result, you can still move forward by obtaining an endorser, someone without adverse credit who agrees to repay the loan if you don’t, and completing PLUS Credit Counseling. The endorser fills out a separate Endorser Addendum online and goes through their own credit check. For parent PLUS loans, the student the parent is borrowing for cannot be the endorser.7Federal Student Aid. PLUS Loans: What to Do if You’re Denied Based on Adverse Credit History Parents who borrow for more than one child complete a separate PLUS MPN for each child.