An important financial resource for many students will no longer be available next semester. The Office of Student Finance has changed its policy so that students will not be able to take out promissory notes.

A promissory note is an agreement between a student and Loyola that extends the time in which the student can pay off their debt while still being able to register for classes. Students with an outstanding debt to Loyola are not allowed to register for classes. If they could not pay that debt before early registration they could sign a promissory note with Student Finance that would extend the time they had to pay while allowing them to register for classes.

 The change in policy has come from new rules issued by the Federal Reserve Board regarding the Truth in Lending Act.

“Promissory notes would be considered a private educational loan even though we weren’t lending money to students, we were extending credit,” said Judy Vogel, director of the Office of Student Finance. “We weren’t really lending money, we were just extending it for a period of time.”

Students who filled out promissory notes and did not pay were removed from the classes they had registered for. This caused other students to be blocked from classes that would otherwise not be full.

“We were really not servicing the students well by doing that,” said Vogel. “The students who do pay should have the opportunity to register for classes that are not being tied up by students who may eventually be cancelled.”

No direct alternative has been offered, but the Office of Student Finance still encourages students to make use of its resources. According to Vogel, students who look into their financial problems earlier may have access to better alternatives.

“By us giving them the extension they were waiting until August to take out private loans and some students were missing out on better opportunities by doing that,” Vogel said.

Notices about promissory notes removal were sent out in the latest billing statements to parents and students by both mail and e-mail. However, many students who will be affected are still unaware of the new policy.

“It just wasn’t well communicated. It seems like such a major change for them to do such a poor job in letting people know about this kind of thing,” said Louis McLaughlin, an English junior who has taken out promissory notes in the past.

Early registration begins March 22 and without promissory notes many students will not be able to participate.

“Classes fill so quickly and people can’t get into their required courses unless they have this option,” said McLaughlin. “Now that they’re taking it away it’s going to hurt a lot of people.”

Sam Winstrom can be reached at [email protected]