Student Loan Know-How
If you’re looking to further your education and go on to college, usually the biggest obstacle is the matter of how you can finance this challenge. There’s a variety of student loans to choose from to make college dreams a reality.
To start on your financing options, you need to first obtain and complete a FAFSA, which is a Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The FAFSA has to be completed before you can be evaluated for federal financial aid. The FAFSA should be filed shortly after January 1 of your senior year in high school.
After completing the FAFSA and sending it in, you’ll find out what kind of loans, grants and school sponsored scholarships you qualify for. The various types of loans available are the Federal Stafford Loans, PLUS, and Graduate PLUS loans. There are two types of Federal Stafford Loans, the subsidized and unsubsidized varieties. The subsidized Federal Stafford Loan is based on financial need. With this type of loan, interest is not charged until you begin repayment.
The repayment schedule does not begin until six months after graduation and the amount of time for payment spans 10 years. The government subsidizes the interest on the loan during the time the student is in school. With the Federal Stafford Unsubsidized Loan, interest does accrue while you are in school. As with the subsidized type, you do not have to pay until six months after graduation or leaving school. The repayment time remains at 10 years.
The Federal PLUS Loan is designed for parents to fund their child’s education and may be used for books, living expenses, tuition and room and board. Some of the benefits of this type of loan are a fixed interest rate and the ability of the parents to completely fund the entire cost of their child’s education. Ther is no origination fee with this type of loan, and you should definitely be able to comparison shop for loans like this online.
The Graduate PLUS Loan is for graduate students and, like the Federal PLUS Loan, gives the student the ability to fund the entire cost of their education. The borrowers can defer repayment until after graduation and there is a fixed interest rate. Repayment options are flexible and varied.
There is a credit check, however, the loan is not based on assets or income level.
There are many opportunities for going to college if you just look into and research financing options available to you.
