College Loan Options Explained
Your College Financial Options
It’s pretty scary when you are leaving for college for the first time, but it can be even more scary when you look at the price it’s going to cost you. The good news is that there are many ways you can find your college education if you are willing to do your research and take the time to fill out the necessary applications. Even if you have not saved for your college education for years, you can still go to college and find a loan that will help you get through the next few years. Here is a look at your college loan options for the future.
The Perkins Loan: Anyone who has done any research on college loans have probably heard of the Perkins loan. Just to make it that little bit more confusing it goes by the names of “Formerly National Defense Student Loan”, the “Perkins Loan Program” and the “National Direct Student Loan”. This type of loan is based on need and is a low interest loan to help you finance your college education. Fortunately if you qualify for a Perkins loan there are over 1800 participating colleges that will take the Perkins loan. This gives you plenty of opportunity to find a college that fits your needs. If you are interested in taking out a needs-based college education among such as the Perkins loan, then you need to make sure that you qualify, you can do this by going online in learning more about this particular loan or speaking to your college education counselor about this loan.
Federal GRAD Plus Loan: This loan is for graduate students who are in need of financing for their graduate school studies. This one is also a needs-based loan and offers a low interest repayment after you have graduated. In order to qualify for this loan, you must be a citizen of the United States or an eligible non-citizen. You also must be a student in a graduate or professional program and enrolled for at least half of the time. Currently this loan has a fixed interest rate of 8.5%. The amount of money that you will get when you apply for this loan will depend on your financial situation and may vary from student to student. Although you will not be responsible for repayment while you are in school, this loan does accrue interest. Ultimately, after you have graduated, you will be responsible for the total amount plus any interest accrued whilst at school.
Subsidized Stafford Loan: this loan is available to United States citizens or eligible non-citizens who are enrolled in a college program or professional program for at least half of the time. The amount of loan that you will receive will again depend on your financial situation. Not everybody can qualify for this type of loan and the amount of monies that you will receive with this loan is $3500 for the first year, $4500 for the second year, and for your third through fifth year in school, you can get $5500. If you are a graduate student and you qualify for this loan, you can get $8500. The interest rate on this loan is currently fixed at 6.8%. In addition, it is important to remember that your repayment schedule begins six months after you graduate or, if your school enrollment drops below half-time. You do have up to 10 years to repay this loan and extensions are granted in certain situations. There are a variety of ways to pay back this type of school loan. So you should check with your loan officer or the Internet for information about this very popular college education loan.
