Chapter	6
Monitoring	Annual	Loan	Limit	Progression
Annual	Loan	Limit	Progression	Overview
The	academic	year	(not	the	award	year)	is	used	as	the	basis	for	monitoring	Direct	Loan	annual	loan	limits.	That	is,	a
student	may	receive	up	to	the	applicable	annual	loan	limit	each	academic	year	(see	Volume	3,	Chapter	1	for	guidance	on
defining	the	academic	year).	Note	that	the	loan	period	for	which	a	Direct	Loan	is	originated	does	not	always	correspond	to
the	academic	year.	Although	the	loan	period	is	often	the	same	as	the	academic	year,	it	may	also	be	for	a	period	shorter
than	the	academic	year.
For	Direct	Subsidized	Loans	and	Direct	Unsubsidized	Loans,	a	school	must	use	either	a	Scheduled	Academic	Year	(SAY)	or
a	Borrower-Based	Academic	Year	(BBAY)	to	determine	when	a	student	is	eligible	for	a	new	annual	loan	limit.	Although
there	is	no	fixed	annual	loan	limit	for	Direct	PLUS	Loans,	Direct	PLUS	Loans	are	awarded	for	the	same	SAY	or	BBAY	period
that	is	used	for	Direct	Subsidized	Loans	and	Direct	Unsubsidized	Loans.	The	type	of	academic	year	(SAY	or	BBAY)	that	a
school	may	(or	must)	use	to	monitor	annual	loan	limit	progression	depends	on	a	program9s	academic	calendar,	as
explained	in	the	sections	that	follow.
Scheduled	Academic	Year
An	SAY	corresponds	to	a	traditional	academic	year	calendar	that	is	published	in	a	school9s	catalog	or	other	materials	and
is	a	fixed	period	of	time	that	generally	begins	and	ends	at	the	same	time	each	year.	An	SAY	may	be	used	by:
Programs	with	standard	terms	and	a	traditional	academic	calendar;	or
Programs	with	SE9W	nonstandard	terms	(see	Chapter	3)	and	a	comparable	calendar.
The	guidance	above	also	applies	to	subscription-based	programs	with	standard	terms	or	SE9W	nonstandard	terms.	For
more	information	on	academic	calendars	for	subscription-based	programs,	see	Volume	3,	Chapter	1.
Examples	of	SAYs	for	a	standard	term	program	are	fall	and	spring	semesters,	or	fall,	winter,	and	spring	quarters.	If	a
program	has	SE9W	nonstandard	terms,	an	SAY	could	consist	of	two	or	more	SE9W	nonstandard	terms	running	from	fall
through	spring.	For	both	standard	term	and	SE9W	nonstandard	term	programs,	the	number	of	credit	hours	and	weeks	of
instructional	time	in	the	fall	through	spring	SAY	period	must	meet	the	regulatory	requirements	for	an	academic	year.
SAY	for	Programs	With	Standard	Terms	Using	a	Traditional	Academic	Calendar
As	noted	previously,	an	SAY	corresponds	to	a	traditional	academic	year	calendar	and	usually	begins	and	ends	at	the	same
time	each	calendar	year	(for	example,	beginning	on	the	first	day	of	the	fall	semester	and	ending	on	the	last	day	of	the
spring	semester).	An	SAY	must	meet	the	Title	IV	requirements	for	an	academic	year	(as	defined	in	Volume	3,	Chapter	1).
An	SAY	may	include	one	or	more	terms	that	a	student	does	not	attend.
Standard	terms	are	semesters,	trimesters,	or	quarters	(see	Volume	3,	Chapter	1	for	more	detail	on	standard	terms).	A
standard-term	program	may	use	an	SAY	if	it	has	a	traditional	academic	calendar	(i.e.,	has	terms	that	start	and	end	at
about	the	same	time	each	year,	such	as	an	academic	calendar	consisting	of	the	fall	and	spring	semesters	or	the	fall,
winter,	and	spring	quarters).
Summer	terms	are	generally	not	considered	to	be	part	of	the	SAY,	but	for	purposes	of	monitoring	loan	limits	they	may	be
treated	as	a	<trailer=	to	the	preceding	SAY	or	as	a	<header=	to	the	following	SAY.	Your	school	has	the	option	to	establish	a
policy	that	designates	its	summer	term	as	either	a	trailer	or	header	to	the	SAY	for	all	students.	You	can	also	choose	to
make	different	designations	for	different	educational	programs,	or	for	different	students,	as	long	as	you	ensure	that	there
is	no	overlap	in	academic	years.	Note	that	a	fixed	designation	of	the	summer	term	as	either	a	trailer	or	header	can	limit	a
student9s	eligibility.	For	instance,	if	you	always	treat	your	summer	term	as	a	trailer	to	a	preceding	fall-spring	SAY,	a
student	who	receives	the	full	annual	loan	limit	for	fall-spring	would	have	no	remaining	loan	eligibility	for	summer.
If	the	summer	term	is	split	into	modules	(sometimes	called	<minisessions=),	such	as	<summer	1=	and	<summer	2,=	the
modules	can	be	combined	and	treated	as	a	single	trailer	or	header,	or	they	can	be	treated	separately	and	assigned	to
different	SAYs.	That	is,	the	first	module	can	be	treated	as	a	trailer	to	the	preceding	fall-spring	SAY,	and	the	second	module