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In order to fulfill current federal and UCLA requirements, a potential UCLA borrower of a federal Stafford Loan, Graduate PLUS, Perkins Loan and/or a campus/university-based long-term loan must complete a UCLA Debt Management Session/Entrance Exam (DMS/EE) before receiving any federal and/or campus/university-based long-term loan disbursement(s).

You must complete an online Debt Management Session/Entrance Exam (DMS/EE) if you fit any one of the following descriptions:
  • an undergraduate student borrowing for the first-time at UCLA
  • a graduate/professional student who did not attend UCLA as an undergraduate and is borrowing for the first-time at UCLA
  • a graduate/professional student who did attend UCLA as an undergraduate but did not complete a DMS/EE while in attendance
  • a graduate/professional student who completed a DMS/EE prior to April 23, 2008 and is now applying for a Graduate PLUS (GPLS)

Even if you have borrowed while at another institution, you must complete a DMS/EE. Only after you have done so will your long-term loan funds be electronically disbursed to your BAR account, or made available to you in paper check form for pick up in the Loan Services Office. You must complete a DMS/EE once as an undergraduate student; and if applying for Grad PLUS, once as a graduate/professional student, in order to fulfill your current federal and UCLA obligations.


Holds blocking the disbursement of most loan funds will be placed on students who do not successfully complete a Debt Management Session/Entrance Exam.


The Loan Services Office offers the DMS/EE online as an easy way for students to fulfill their UCLA and federal borrower requirements. The session/exam is conveniently available on the web twenty-four hours a day. This online method also makes it possible to help potential student borrowers in making informed financial decisions, before accepting any loan offer on their electronic Financial Aid Notification (eFAN), by providing them with information on:

  • the terms and conditions associated with different types of student loans
  • the rights and responsibilities of student loan lenders and borrowers
  • the UCLA loan and disbursement processes
  • the money-saving benefits of the Bruin Budget Plan©

The DMS/EE provides insights into assessing the long-term effects of borrowing and deciding how to best utilize loans to meet the cost of education. You may also want to discuss your educational loan offers and college finances with a parent or an advisor.


A brief instruction and weblink pertaining to this online session/exam is included in every Initial Aid Offer email sent to regular UCLA students when their eFAN becomes available on the Financial Aid Office's MyFAO webpage. The subject line of the email reads: Your eFANs Notification. Notice regarding this matter as it pertains to UCLA Extension students is included in print publications issued by UCLA Extension.


The online session/exam takes approximately 45 minutes to complete. You must take the entire exam in one sitting.



IMPORTANT:
  • NOTICE TO ALL GRADUATE / PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS: Beginning with the 2008-2009 academic year, federal requirements regarding the Grad PLUS Program have changed. In order to satisfy the new federal requirements, ULCA graduate/professional student borrowers applying for Grad PLUS must complete the newly-updated online Debt Management Session/Entrance Exam BEFORE their Grad PLUS funds can be disbursed. All graduate/professional students who complete an online DMS/EE on or after 4/23/08 will receive credit for having fulfilled the new requirement.
  • UCLA SCHOOL OF LAW STUDENTS - If you are borrowing for the first time as a student enrolled in the UCLA School of Law, instead of completing a DMS/EE, you must complete the loan entrance exam offered at http://www.accessgroup.org\counseling.
  • Current and returning students who have previously attended an in-person Debt Management Session or completed an online DMS/EE have already fulfilled the first-time undergraduate borrower requirement. Such individuals do not need to take an online DMS/EE if they are still borrowing as an undergraduate or as a graduate/professional who is not borrowing a Grad PLUS.


For questions/problems concerning the online session/exam or general counseling, please contact the Loan Services Office (M-F, 9 AM to 4:45 PM) at (310) 825-9864 and choose option '8'.