No. It is easy to qualify. Jackson County students have received more than $50 million in loans since the program’s inception.

Applications are available right here on the John George Jr. Trust website and can also be picked up at our office located at 2229 Fourth St., Jackson, MI 49203.

Applicants must …

• Be graduating from or have graduated from a high school located in Jackson County, Michigan or be a resident of Jackson County, Michigan (homeschooled students are eligible).
• Be a full-time college student during the years the applicant borrows from the program.
• Have a cosigner.

State-supported colleges or universities located in Michigan.

You must maintain 12 credit hours per semester/term to be considered a full-time student. If fewer than 12 credits is considered full-time at the school you attend, you will be required to document that fact.

Yes, you must maintain a 2.25 GPA both overall and per semester/term while borrowing money from the fund.

It is a fixed rate of 2% annual percentage rate. (This rate will change if you are in default.)

This loan is from a trust account, not from the bank itself, but the trust does not have electronic deposit capabilities outside of Comerica Bank.

The applicant and his/her parents must be Jackson County residents to be eligible to borrow, so checks are mailed to that address.

Automatic payments can only be processed through a Comerica Bank account. (See the Resources page for the Automatic Payment Authorization Form.) Automatic payment through other financial institutions is not available. Please check with your financial institution for online payment options.

Each year, the John George Jr. Student Loan Fund office will request information regarding your borrowing needs for the next school year. For additional funding, you must return the required information, including a copy of your fall semester grades, no later than March 1. If you do not receive this request in a timely manner, please contact the John George Jr. Student Loan office to make sure your paperwork is in order.

Approval/denial letters are mailed out on a rolling basis. Those letters state how to make appointments for your loan closing at Comerica Bank’s Student Loan Servicing Department in the Wealth Management Division.

An additional note: By August 1 of any year you are not borrowing but are still enrolled in school full-time, you must provide Comerica Bank’s Student Loan Servicing Department proof that you are still in school. If you provide timely proof, your loan will remain in deferment. However, if you do not notify the bank that you are in school, the bank will begin the process of setting you up to repay your loan.

You are required to pay the annual interest each year. You will receive an annual interest due notice from Comerica Bank.

Principal and interest payments will begin the January after your eligibility termination date, which is the date you no longer are a full-time student. If you are not enrolled as a full-time student, you must also begin repayment of your loan. Please direct all payment questions and arrangements to Comerica Bank’s Student Loan Servicing Department.

Payments will be made every month until all principal and interest and any other charges described that may be owed under this note are paid in full. Each monthly payment will be applied to interest before principal. If amounts are still owed under this note on the December 15 that precedes the five-year anniversary of the first scheduled principal and interest payment, this amount will be due in full on that date, which is called the "maturity date.”

Your Promissory Note requires payment of the accrued interest each year. This amount is the interest due for the funds you have borrowed for the prior school year(s).