What is the FORWARD Loan and who’s eligible 

The Future Occupations & Reskilling Workforce Advancement to Reach Demand (FORWARD) Program is a low-interest loan designed for students enrolled in programs aligned with high-value credentials and high-demand occupations.

The program provides alternative educational loans to Texas students who are unable to meet the cost of attendance, including both direct (tuition and fees) and indirect (room and board, books and supplies, transportation, personal expenses, and other allowable costs for financial aid purposes) costs. 

Students must: 

• Be a Texas resident.
• Be registered with Selective Service, or be exempt. 
• Meet the satisfactory academic progress requirements set by the institution. 
• Receive a favorable credit evaluation or provide a cosigner who has favorable credit and meets other credit requirements.
• Be enrolled in a eligible High-Demand Credential program.

Students must meet one of the following enrollment requirements: 

• If enrolled in a degree program, must have completed at least 50% of the required coursework prior to receiving a loan through the Program. 
• If enrolled in a non-degree program, the program’s duration must be less than two years.  
• If enrolled in master's degree coursework, the master’s degree must be part of a combined baccalaureate-master's program approved by the institution of higher education. 

Note: Eligible High-Demand Credential programs are limited to undergraduate and combined baccalaureate-master's programs. 

Students may borrow no less than $100 and no more than:

• Their cost of attendance minus any other available financial resources a student is eligible to receive such as scholarships, gifts, grants, federal Direct Loans (subsidized or unsubsidized), and other financial aid.
• Their manageable debt limit as determined by their program of study. To learn more about manageable debt limits for qualifying programs, reference this helpful chart.

If a student does not meet credit evaluation qualifications for the FORWARD loan on their own, they may have a cosigner help them meet qualifications.

Eligible cosigners must: 

• Be at least 21 years of age. 
• Have a regular source of income.
• Not be the borrower or the spouse of the borrower.
• Receive a favorable credit evaluation*.
• Be a U.S. citizen, or a permanent U.S. resident and live in the U.S. or in a U.S. territory.

*To receive a favorable credit evaluation, students or cosigners must:  

• Have an Experian VantageScore of 650 or higher.  
• Not have public records such as tax liens or bankruptcy proceedings.
• Have a minimum of four credit trade lines (excluding student loans or authorized user accounts). 
• Not have defaulted on any federal or private education loans.

Interest is currently a fixed annual rate of 4.30%. Interest starts adding up (or accruing) on the amount you borrow from the moment the loan is made. This loan uses simple interest, which means interest is based only on the original amount borrowed, not on previously accrued interest.

• Loans have a six-month grace period. When a borrower drops below half-time enrollment at an eligible institution, their six-month grace period begins. At the end of this time, the borrower must begin repaying the loan. 
• Loans have a ten-year repayment period, with no penalty for prepayment. Borrowers must pay the minimum monthly payment but may choose to pay more.
• Each year, a monthly payment amount is calculated based on the borrower’s income, the monthly accrued interest on FORWARD loans, and total outstanding student loan balance. It is important that borrowers are aware that their monthly payments may change from year to year.
• Loans will not be sold to another lender.
• If you run into financial hardship, loan forbearance may be available to temporarily pause or reduce your payments. Interest will continue to accrue during forbearance, so you’re responsible for any interest that builds up.
• Borrowers who fall below a certain income level may be automatically placed into an interest-only payment forbearance, requiring them to pay only the interest that accrues during the forbearance period.

Note: Borrowers who enroll in the automatic debit or Automatic Clearing House (ACH) payment service receive a 0.25% interest rate reduction on the interest rate of each applicable loan in repayment.

You can apply at Apply Online.