Types of Loans

Types of Loans

Doing away with federally guaranteed private loans whittled the three basic types of loans undergraduate students should know about down to two: federal loans made by the government directly, and private or alternative loans from banks or other private lenders that carry no federal government guarantee. (Sometimes a college itself may make loans, too, usually in partnership with a financial institution.)
Every student should first look to federal loans because the interest on these loans is capped at a fixed rate set by Congress. Every financial aid administrator at every college in the country should tell students this. And students should be wary of any lender that tries to steer them away from federal student loans.
Federal loans remain the gold standard for borrowers. Unlike private loans, they allow more latitude when it comes to repayment, something that is relevant to these economically troubled times. Repayment based on income can offer relief; it can be calculated using the percentage of discretionary income, not the amount owed.
The most popular federal loans are the Stafford loans, available to students regardless of financial need.
There are two types of Stafford loans available to students. For those who demonstrate sufficient financial need, the government will pay the interest on "subsidized" Stafford loans for students while they are enrolled in college. Otherwise, loans accumulate interest while a student is in school, and the student may either pay that interest as it comes due or let it be added to the principal balance.
Perkins loans are available to students who have the greatest financial need; priority is given to students receiving federal Pell grants, which are awarded to low-income students. Parents of students can also take out federal loans, known as Parent PLUS loans (Parental Loans for Undergraduate Students).
Families taking out PLUS loans can borrow enough to cover their full "cost of attendance" less any other financial aid, like scholarships or grants, that they receive. The cost of attendance is defined by law and is made up of more than just tuition and fees, and includes room and board, an allowance for books and supplies, transportation and other personal expenses. Every college should provide incoming students with its cost of attendance.
The federal Education Department has information on Stafford, Perkins and PLUS loans on its Web site, which can be hard to navigate.
The simplest way to borrow may be directly from the federal government, through the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. But this option exists only for students attending a college that participates in the direct loan program. For students attending institutions that do not participate, shopping around is a good idea.

Going to College

Going to College

If you are a high school junior or senior, the most important thing on your mind is probably getting accepted into the school(s) of your choice. As you select and apply to colleges, you should also be educating yourself about college financial aid and the cost of the colleges you wish to attend.
There are plenty of ways to pay for college, so don’t let the price tag of a school scare you off. Just be sure you understand that paying for college today is no small task; the average cost of one year at a 4-year public school is $15,213 and $35,636 for a 4-year private school1. Once you receive your financial aid award packages from the colleges to which you applied and were accepted, make sure you compare college costs carefully. Check to see what the total cost of each college is, compared to the amount of scholarships and grants you were given at each school. If you need help, use our Comparing Colleges Calculator.
Don’t wait until it’s too late to start thinking about how you are going to pay for college. You and your family should start making a college budget, learning about college financial aid and applying for college scholarships now. Free money, like scholarships and grants, is always the best way to pay for college. Once you’ve exhausted free money, and any money your family is willing to contribute towards your education costs, you’ll want to start researching college student loans.

Loans for College

Loans for College

College student loans are a necessity for many college students, given the cost of college today. Before taking out loans for college, you should work hard to get college scholarships. Some students also work part-time to save money before going to college. Once your efforts have been exhausted, you’ll probably need to use loans for college.
There are two types of college student loans, federal and private. A federal student loan, such as the Direct Stafford Loan, is an inexpensive way to borrow money for college. Payments are not due until 6 months after you graduate, or drop below half-time enrollment. The trouble with federal loans for college is that they have low borrowing limits, that are based on your grade level and school status. You may not be able to borrow enough to cover your entire college costs. For more information on federal loans for college, check out our Student Loan Guide.
If a federal college loan doesn’t provide all the money you need to pay for your college expenses, consider private loans for college. A private student loan can help you get the money you need to pay for school expenses such as tuition, room & board, books, travel, food and more. Many undergraduate students find that they need to use a private student loan in order to pay for today’s 4-year public and private school costs. You can generally apply for a private student loan once you have accepted a college offer and are enrolled in school, usually the summer before your freshman year.

The Need for Graduate Student Loans

The Need for Graduate Student Loans

Whether you have just graduated from college, or you are a seasoned work-place professional, the cost of graduate school can be daunting. Most college graduates already have student loan debt from their undergraduate education, and have not yet had time to save up to pay for graduate school. Even if you are a working professional, graduate school can be extremely time consuming, and you may have to cut back on your current job while you are taking classes. If you have chosen a graduate school in another state or location, you might have to quit your job altogether to attend school.
You may also find that there is less scholarship and federal grant money available to help graduate students with financial aid, compared with undergraduates. If you are unable to secure a graduate fellowship or scholarship money to pay for graduate school, you may have to take out graduate student loans.
Keep in mind that taking out graduate student loans will add to your overall student loan debt. You don’t want to get into graduate school debt lightly; make sure you have weighed all of your professional options and that graduate school is the right choice for you.
Don’t forget to ask your current employer about tuition reimbursement programs offered at your workplace. If you are planning to attend graduate school in the future, you might want to consider looking at companies who offer tuition reimbursement programs as an employee benefit.

Types of graduate student loans?

What are the types of graduate student loans?

There are basically 2 types of graduate student loans:
  1. Direct Stafford graduate loans
    The Direct Stafford Loan has increased borrowing limits for graduates, a fixed interest rate of 6.8% for the 10/11 school year, and some great deferment benefits in case you ever run into financial hardship. Graduate Stafford Loans should always be used before considering private graduate loans. Direct Stafford Loans have an origination fee of 1%.
    Graduate students can now also access the Direct Grad PLUS Loan, which can cover up to the total cost of attendance minus any other aid you have received. The Grad PLUS Loan was designed to be used once you have maximized your Direct Stafford Loan funds. The Grad PLUS Loan has a fixed interest rate of 7.9% and an origination fee of 4%.
  2. Private graduate loans
    Private graduate loans can cover your school and living expenses after you have maximized free money (scholarships, grants, tuition reimbursement) and Direct graduate Stafford and Grad PLUS loans. Private graduate loans were built with you in mind – there are little or no payments until you are finished with school or drop below half-time status. In addition, private graduate loans are often less expensive than credit cards or personal loans.
Important Information
Private graduate loans are credit based. Depending on your income and credit history, you may qualify for the loan on your own. In today’s financial environment, don’t be surprised if you are asked to obtain a credit-worthy co-signer. The interest rate on private graduate loans is generally variable. If you currently have a good income and credit history, you can apply for a private graduate loan to see if your rate and fees will be better than the Grad PLUS Loan (7.9% fixed interest rate, origination fee of 4%). If you are not working, or do not have a strong credit history, the Grad PLUS Loan is probably your best option. Direct Stafford, Grad PLUS graduate loans and private graduate loans can be tax deductible.

5 Tips to Secure a College Internship in 2011

5 Tips to Secure a College Internship in 2011

  1. Be Flexible with Internship Dates Most college students are looking for a traditional summer internship program where they can work full-time while school is out. If you want to increase your chances of landing an internship, try to be more flexible. Some companies have internship programs that run during the school year, where you might work 1 or 2 days per week. If you are able to fit part-time work in your school schedule, you should consider these types of opportunities as well.
  2. Attend School Internship Fairs Your school has probably already created relationships with local companies that offer college internships to their students. Make sure you attend all of the job and interview fairs provided by your school, even if you aren’t ready to start an internship in the near future. The goal is to hand out your resume to potential employers, receive feedback, increase contacts and give you additional interview experience. If you need help with your resume, seek advice from your school’s career center, a professor, or check out our section on Entry Level Resumes & Cover Letters.
  3. Always Dress Professionally We know that money is tight for most college students, so you need to make each impression count. The first visual impression you make should be positive and is often manifested in being well groomed and appropriately dressed for the profession you are seeking. We suggest you invest in at least one professional suit for job fairs and interviews, and some business casual attire for networking events, business club meetings and for when you land that internship! With fewer interview opportunities available and competition steep these days, every factor counts so you want to ensure that the company interviewing you is not distracted by your appearance.
  4. Improve Your Odds While you may be excited about a particular internship program, be realistic about the number of spots available and the level of competition you may face. If you are going for a national internship program that accepts 12 students across the country, improve your odds of landing an internship by applying to other programs. It’s never a bad thing to have more than one internship offer to choose from!
  5. It doesn’t hurt to ask your personal network (family, friends, professors, school administrators) if they are aware of any college internship opportunities. Some small or local companies may accept interns without having a formal program, just to help with their workload. A personal reference from a relative or professor may be able to get you in the door. You need to work as many angles as possible to find a college internship opportunity that is not only available, but that you can gain valuable experience from.
  6. Search Online There are plenty of job sites on the internet that post college internship opportunities. You can also check your school’s website and the websites of your favorite companies. Just remember to treat each internship submission with care. You’ll want to research the company and submit a well-crafted cover letter and resume with each internship submission.

The Unsecured Student Loan

The Unsecured Student Loan
In this, you loan does not have any form of security since the interest rates is higher compared to secured education loan. There are many people avail this type of loan since no security bond needed.
As students or parents, you need to plan what education loan you need for your children or for the college student. You need to do some researching either online or do some shopping by roaming around. Bear in mind that taking an education or student loan is not an instant since the lenders have some requirements to ask.
Spend time reading policies and think twice which loan that suits you and your financial budget. If you are a college student and want to avail an education loan repayment, then you need to plan what type of course you need or to take such as for example, Computer Science, Education, BSN and other course of your desire.
The student loan repayment covers the costs of tuition fees, examination fees, hostel fees, etc. although some will finance the books as well and equipments or instruments required by the student for their course.
Remember that education loan repayment must be eventually being paid back and interest accumulates by the time you get your degree and you will be paying back much more than you owed or borrowed. So be sure you know how to calculate or figure it out what are the total costs of borrowing before you sign on the application or contract.
Think and honestly evaluate the repayment schedule and try to determine whether you will be able to comply with the schedule and the amount after graduation. If you live within your means and not spending unnecessary things or wants, for sure you can pay on the scheduled time and the amount you borrowed as well. In this kind of situation, you need to buckle up tightly your belt in order to pursue your goal, to be a professional someday.

Getting Advice

Getting Advice

In the wake of all the negative attention to financial aid offices in 2007, students might well be nervous about relying on advice they get from their colleges or about borrowing from a company on a college's list of "preferred" or "recommended" lenders.
While it is certainly the case that in 2007 investigators for Congress and various state attorneys general uncovered questionable relationships between lenders and both colleges and individual financial aid administrators, students should still start with their financial aid offices. More coverage of the tangled arrangements some colleges had with lenders is available here, here and here. Many of these arrangements have since ended.
But students should learn from the financial aid scandals and should ask, for example, how recommended lenders were selected and what are the terms of the loans those lenders offer? Under the terms of an agreement with the New York attorney general's office, more and more lenders are required to tell colleges exactly how much students are paying in interest.
For more information, there are plenty of Web sites out there aimed at future college students. Some sites even can help compare loan terms from different lenders to help students choose the best deal, like SimpleTuition and Graduate Leverage. For a comparison of the sites, you can check Finaid's Web page. But some sites are in fact owned by lenders or other companies, or – like SimpleTuition - they are paid referral fees by lenders, so students should not rely on any one source of information.
Some helpful sites are maintained by both nonprofits and for-profit organizations not directly in the student loan business. Those seeking to learn more may want to check out The Institute for College Access and Success (www.ticas.org). The nonprofit's Project on Student Debt provides tips on shopping for and comparing different student loans.
Most of the information provided discussed above is included in the Education Department's Guide to Federal Student Aid [PDF].
After reading this far, you might feel like as much work is involved in paying for school as getting through it. But remember: a little effort now could pay off in savings for years and years after graduation.

Private Loans

Private Loans: The Wild West

For those students who need to borrow more money than is available through a federal loan program, there are "private" or "alternative" loans. These are basically just like any other consumer loan from a bank or student loan company. The interest rates charged on private loans are almost always higher than those on federal loans, and the interest rates can change over time.
The interest rates on these loans also vary from lender to lender and from borrower to borrower, leading some to describe the private loan market as the "wild west" of the student loan industry. Because there is so much variability in loan terms, students must apply for a loan merely to find out what rate they might have to pay. This can be time consuming, but it is better to shop around than to accept a rate that is going to make repayment difficult. The rates charged can vary dramatically.
Because private loan interest rates change over time, it is more difficult for borrowers to predict their monthly payments in the future. In general, students should borrow as little as they can in the form of private loans, no matter how much easier the application process is than the FAFSA.
Private loans also do not enjoy some of the protections that federal loans provide, such as the possibility of temporary deferment or forbearance –- meaning that a borrower does not have to make payments on a loan under certain circumstances. There is more information about how to cope with repayment difficulties for federal loan borrowers.

Interest on Federal Loans

Interest on Federal Loans

Congress sets the interest that a lender can charge on federal loans, and most lenders do charge the maximum. Currently the maximum interest rate on new Perkins loans is 5 percent. On unsubsidized Stafford loans, the rate is 6.8 percent. For subsidized Stafford loans, the rate is 5.6 percent — the government pays the interest (dropping to 4.5 percent for 2010-11 and 3.4 percent for 2011-12). The lower rate is only for undergraduate students; graduate and professional students still pay 6.8 percent on both types of Stafford loans. On PLUS loans, borrowers pay 7.9 percent if they borrow through the direct loan program. Students should check these rates because they do change. The Education Department currently posts the maximum rates.
The government also imposes limits on how much money students may borrow under each type of loan program. As of July 1, 2008, the typical dependent Stafford borrower can take out $5,500 in the first year of college, $6,500 the second year and $7,500 in later years. The maximum amount an undergraduate can borrow through the Stafford loan program is $31,000. These loan limits are specified here.

Student Loans

Overview

A college education may be the most important investment in a child's life and has become one of the most costly, too. The publicly reported tuition charged by private colleges and universities for can reach $50,000 or more a year. The trends are alarming, too. And while tuition at public universities is generally lower, costs there have been growing even more steeply in recent years as government support has lagged.
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So it is no wonder that more students and their families are borrowing ever larger amounts to pay for college. In the 2008-2009 academic year, they took out more than $95 billion in loans, both federally guaranteed and private.

But understanding how student loans work is not easy, and the unwary borrower can end up paying a high interest rate for years after graduation. For the millions of students who will need to borrow to pay for college, it makes sense to learn about the financial aid system even before applying.

The landscape for loans is about to change. Included in the legislation that completed the health care reform package were provisions to force commercial banks out of the federal student loan market, cutting off billions of dollars in profits in a sweeping restructuring of financial-aid programs and redirecting most of the money to new education initiatives.

Since the bank-based loan program began in 1965, commercial banks like Sallie Mae and Nelnet have received guaranteed federal subsidies to lend money to students, with the government assuming nearly all the risk. Democrats have long denounced the program, saying it fattened the bottom line for banks at the expense of students and taxpayers. The legislation, proposed by President Obama in 2009 and fiercely opposed by banks, substitutes an expanded direct-lending program by the government for the bank-based program, directing $36 billion over 10 years to Pell grants, for students from low-income families.