Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Find the Way To Fund Your Education with Government Student Loans

A student whose home lies within the U.S. has reason to inquire about loans provided by the US government. In the United States, all these loans are based on financial need. The student initiates his or her application for the loan by completing a FAFSA.

Any students, who hesitate to complete a FAFSA, perhaps because they fear that they would not qualify for a loan, should go online and obtain a FAFSAcaster. Determining Eligibility for Government Student Loans

Learn about, What is the FAFSAcaster ?

The FAFSAcaster allows a student to calculate his or her eligibility for one of the government student loans.


The online FAFSAcaster offers information on the various types of academic pursuits that can be financed by government student loans. If the information on the FAFSAcaster were to tell a student that he or she qualified for a government loan, then that student would undoubtedly want to know how to get such a loan. Other information on the same website as the FAFSAcaster lists the various sources of the government student loans.

That list of sources might cause a student to have more questions that relate to these types of loans. Counselors, who can be contacted through the FAFSAcaster website, stand ready to offer students some helpful answers. The website with the FAFSAcaster operates under the name "Knowhow2go."

Assessments That Assist Those Wanting a Government Student Loan

Any student who would like to have one of the government student loans can benefit from conducting a self-assessment. Such an assessment usually begins with a search for the answer to this question: "What is your interest?" A follow-up question to that would be this: "What is your learning style?"

Once the student has carefully assessed his or her interests, then that student can study the further questions made available on Careervoyages. That is a website designed to help students in all levels consider the advantages of government loans. Students in high school and middle school should be told about Careervoyages.

That website explains clearly what classes a student needs to take in high school if he or she hopes to pursue a particular career. If, for example, a young high school girl wants to become a landscape architect, she will find that she needs to take a technical drawing course in high school.

The same website can help any student select a school or group of schools that would be likely to accept their application. Some schools only accept students with a high grade point average, and students who have scored well on their college boards. Once any student has conducted a thorough self-assessment, then that student is ready to proceed to the next step. After using the tools on Careervoyages, a student can better go after one or more of the government student loans.

20 things that you must now about Consolidate Student Loans

  1. A student should always, once through college, initiate steps to consolidate their student loans. This article details the benefits available to graduates, parents or students who take those steps.
  2. The Consolidation of Student Loans Brings Reduced Payments
  3. When a student gets all his or her loans under the same Social Security number, then the government will agree to consolidate those student loans. The student's individual loans are paid off, giving the student one large loan.
  4. Moreover, when the government takes steps to consolidate student loans, it also takes two other important steps: It extends the loan and it lowers the loan rate.
  5. There is not set way by which a loan provider can bring down the rate on a consolidated loan. A reputable loan provider carefully examines all the possible ways that a student's rate might be made lower.
  6. The loan provider then establishes that low rate as the rate for a consolidated and extended loan.
  7. The government's willingness to both extend the loan and to lower the rate can save students considerable money. Although the payment schedule has been extended, the person with the consolidated loan can feel free to pay the loan off ahead of schedule.
  8. In other words, there is no prepayment penalty levied on those who make an early pay-off after choosing to consolidate student loans.
  9. Two More Reasons to Consolidate Student Loans
  10. It was mentioned above that the rate on a consolidated loan is lower than the rate on each of the original loans. Besides being lower, that rate is also fixed. The rate on a Stafford or Perkins Loan is variable.
  11. The rate on a consolidated loan does not change during the course of the loan.
  12. A student with a consolidated loan does not need to spend time keeping track of the payment schedule for two, three or more loans. That student loan recipient can just make a single monthly payment.
  13. Often the student elects to make that single payment through an automatic debit. That can decrease the loan rate by another 0.25%.
  14. Still Other Reasons to Consolidate Student Loans
  15. Gradate students who consolidate student loans can learn then about fellowships and graduate school loans. Parents who consolidate their loans can search for free money or private loans. Those benefits come on top of the loan's lower interest rate.
  16. When you consolidate student loans, you provide yourself with a chance to improve your credit score. No graduate wants to face credit problems that have been caused by his or her need to take out loans in order to cover college expenses.
  17. In light of all the above benefits, students should ask this question:
  18. Who Can Qualify for the Program to Consolidate Student Loans?
  19. Before allowing a student to consolidate student loans, the government looks to see if the student or graduate owes $10,500 or more.
  20. The government also checks to see if the loan recipient has any loans in default.

Dont Wait Find and Get Your Federal Student Loan

When people graduate from high school, a lot of these students decide to work instead of going off to college. The reason some give is that the individual doesnt have any idea what to take up. The sad truth is that some cant afford it. Many colleges and universities are funded by the federal government and the alumni but not everybody can qualify for a scholarship or a grant. The best chance to get that degree and a high paying job is a federal student loan.

Are there enough loans to be given to people who want to avail? The answer is yes. The federal governments give the department of education a budget of more than $65 million a year in terms of loans, grants and aids. One of these is called the Stafford or Ford program. There are two types currently being offered. The first is the subsidized by the government. The second is unsubsidized meaning the student will have to pay this back so that other candidates can also apply for a loan. When the candidate applies for a loan, the repayment process can be done in 5 years or more. The person should remember that this can be fast tracked but keep in mind of the rise and fall of interest rates in a given year that could affect the amount to be paid back to the government.

These are some certain requirements in order to be eligible for student aid. These are the following;

  1. The candidate must have a high school diploma or a certificate after taking the General Education Development program more often known as the GED. If this is not available, any document given by the Department of Education that proves the individual is ready for higher education.
  2. There must be proof from the school where the student applied in that in the long term will result in a degree or a certificate. There is a list of eligible programs so it will be a good idea to check if the loan will be granted.
  3. If the loan applicant doesnt know what course to apply to given that the first choice is not eligible, it will be a good idea to get some advice from a financial aid administrator.
  4. The person should be a US citizen with a valid social security number.
  5. If accepted, a certain GPA must be maintained during the entire program.
  6. One of the parents must sign on the student loan application form.
  7. Those who have served time in prison still have a chance to go back to school and earn a decent living. The former convict should call the nearest federal student loan office to find out how to apply and in the end earn a degree.
  8. The one who will be responsible for checking if the student is eligible for the loan is the school where the candidate has decided to apply in. If the application has been turned down, there are still other places such as non profit organizations that can help the person still purse that degree.

Those who have applied in the past can reapply again in the future. Some of those who failed to qualify before can work on the issue and address this so the application can be granted.

The office of student aid has also gone high tech. Instead of going to one of the offices in campus or nearby the home, the form can be filled up online or printed then mailed. An account made from the website is better since the status of the application can be monitored for faster action if something else needs to be submitted.

At the turn of the 21st century, more than 4 million student loan applications were processed. This number has more than doubled 6 years after this first started.

It is a good idea to start early when deciding to apply for a federal student loan. The student can check the local library, the school counselors office and the department of education nearby so the papers can be prepared even before graduating from high school. The federal student loan application form is free. By filling up the form and preparing the required documents, this is the first step any student has to take in order to get money for college and get that degree.

Step by Step to Find Student Loan

Are you the one of student that want to search student loan for your education directly ? I will help and show you hot you can do fine and be done in this case. Of course the first step is finding a college that is right for you and your wallet. In one hand It is a hard decision to finde the type of school you family can afford, but in other hand its necessary to take a look a different colleges first. If you have already decided that a student loan will pay for parts of the college experience, you next step is for you family and you to decide what is a reasonable debt after college to pay off.

An average student has around $19,000 in student debt when graduating college, many people think that less than $25,000 in student debt is a reasonable amount after graduation; this is however something that needs to be talk about before applications are send out. Now that you have found your loan limit its time to find the right loan program that fits your needs. Federal loan programs like Perkins and Stafford loans will get you the lowest rates. Perkins loan at 5 percent are some of the cheapest student loans available, but they can be hard to get approved for as only the students with the greatest financial needs are approved.

Most students will go with the Stafford loans at a fix rate of 6.8 percent, and a borrowing limit of $23,000 for undergraduate education. Now that you have determined you debt amount and your loan supplier, the next step is to submit a FASFA application. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) must be submitted before you can apply for federal loans. Three to four weeks after filing your FASFA you will receive, in the mail, a copy of your Student Aid Report (SAR). Approximately one to two weeks after you receive your copy of the SAR, look for a financial aid award letter from your school detailing how much aid you are eligible for and in what form that aid will take.

After receiving you Award letter its time to apply for your Federal Loans online Stafford or Perkins and again wait for your approval letter in the mail.

After you have found the right loan type you should also have a look at the federal grants that are available. A grant is federal aide that does not have to be repaid after graduation. The final alternative students have to federally funded loans is to seek out private student loans to pay for college. This type of college loan is becoming more popular because federal loans have simply not kept pace with the rapidly rising cost of college tuition.

Sallie Mae has a private college loan program offered through select lending institutions or lending partners. The nice thing about their program is that it is privately insured and based on credit history.