There are many different types of student loans that one can apply for, including education loans, nursing school loans, medical student loans, law school loans, and Stafford loans, just to name a few. There are also literally hundreds of different lending institutions out there that you can go through for these loans.

These student loan lenders will vary in terms of their eligibility requirements and the details of the loans, but the basics always tend to remain the same.

When to Apply

It is important that you apply for your student loans as early on as you can, to ensure that you receive your funds or at least an answer from the lender before the start of the school semester. Applying for a student loan or line of credit is really quite simple, but it is important to remember that whether you plan to attend a post secondary school on a full or part-time basis, you need to apply to your province or state for student financial assistance.

In Canada there is something known as the Canada Student Loans Program which enables students with a financial need to attend a post-secondary institution by providing them with the funds that they need to enroll.

There are also grants that are available however, although there are more eligibility requirements for these. The biggest difference between grants and loans is the fact that you do not have to pay the grants back.

Grants are offered by the government with the aim to increase the participation of people in financial aid in post-secondary education. Grants are available for students in a variety of fields and at different levels in their education and they are similar to loans only you do not have to worry about ever making any repayments, not even on interest.

There are even special grants available for students with disabilities, and to be eligible for these grants a student must apply for and meet the eligibility criteria, have a permanent disability which is defined as being a functional limitation caused by a physical or mental impairment, and they must have need of exceptional education related services.

If you do meet all of these requirements then your chances are good that you will be able to receive this grant, which will pay for all of your post-secondary education needs including tuition, books, and so on.

The most important process in applying for financial aid is filing the FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FAFSA) application each year. The FAFSA can be completed online at www.fafsa.ed.gov — the fastest and most accurate way to apply. The FAFSA is the only application required for Federal, State, or Institutional grants, work-study or loans for Fall and Spring term financial aid.

ELIGIBILITY:
In order to be eligible for any form of federal, state, or institutional financial aid, you must fulfill the following requirements:

1. You must be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.
2. You must have a valid social security number.
3. You must be admitted into a degree-seeking program. You may apply for aid before you are admitted but you must be admitted before aid can be awarded or disbursed to you.
4. If you are a male of at least 18 years of age, you must be registered with selective service.
5. To retain eligibility you must maintain satisfactory academic progress.
6. To receive most types of aid at FSU, you must be a full-time student.

Apply early for Financial Aid. The first day that you can submit the FAFSA for the new academic year is January 1.

You must apply for aid every year. Because some types of aid are limited in funding, we recommend that all students complete the application as early as possible each year. Estimated tax data is acceptable. Just be as accurate as possible in the estimation. Once taxes are completed, corrections to the FAFSA can be made through the online process.

Admission cannot provide you with an estimated award offer until you are admitted. You can apply for financial aid before you are admitted, but we cannot tell you what you are eligible for until you are admitted.

Apply online. The FAFSA is available online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

Keep up with your application for aid

• Once your FAFSA is processed by the government, you will have access to a Student Aid Report (SAR), either through an online summary of the online application process, or through a printed document mailed to you if you apply using paper FAFSA. It is important that you check your SAR for accuracy, and respond to any comments or notices posted by the federal processor on the Student Aid Report. The Federal Processor sometimes needs additional data before the application can be considered complete – comments on the Student Aid Report will guide you though the process.
• The college of your choice will notify you if any additional documents are required for completion of your financial aid application. Keep copies of any documents that you submit. Make sure that the student’s name and social security number are on the top corner of all documents submitted.
• The college of your choice office of Financial Aid will provide you with online access to your financial aid file. To monitor the progress of your financial aid, you can log in to your Financial Aid Student Toolkit via Blackboard.

Financial Need/Award Of Need Based Aid

The data provided by you to the federal processor on the FAFSA form is put through a calculation established by the federal government. This calculation establishes an Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Your eligibility for need-based aid is calculated by subtracting your EFC, along with any outside resources (i.e. Veteran benefits, scholarships, tuition waivers, fellowships, etc.) from your Cost of Attendance(COA). This gives the financial aid office your financial need for the college of your choice.

The ISLP Health Professions Loan is a another one of the credit-based medical school loans that requires a credit-ready applicant who is a US citizen or permanent resident. Applicants must have a satisfactory credit history. Applicants requesting more than $25,000 US will need a credit-worthy co-signer. Co-signers must have an established satisfactory credit history, be employed with sufficient income to meet current liabilities, including the ISLP, and a stable residency and employment history.

LOAN AMOUNT
Minimum: US $1,000
Maximum: US $45,000 or Cost of Education as determined by the school of choice, whichever amount is lower. Medical students at Stafford eligible institutions should deduct the Stafford medical school loan amount from their requested ISLP loan amounts. Medical students may borrow up to $25,000 on their own signatures; students requesting more will need a US citizen or permanent resident as co-signer.

ISLP Residency Loan:
Medical students entering their fourth year of school may apply for up to $12,500 in medical school loan funds to assist in residency interview and relocation costs. Medical students may apply for this loan up to six months after graduation. To apply, select the residency loan option in the on-line application. Terms and conditions are identical to the ISLP Health Profession Loan for the bank you choose.

RATES
Interest rates are variable (subject to monthly adjustment), and based on the US Prime Rate or LIBOR*, as published in the Wall Street Journal.

For current PRIME and LIBOR, you can check on line.

*LIBOR = London Interbank Offered Rate, a base index used in setting rates for U.S. capital markets. Rate used is the quarterly average of one-month LIBOR rates.

FEES
Varying according to co-signer status and lender, these fees allow you to borrow without pledging assets or collateral. Initial fees will be added to the principal of the medical school loan at disbursement. Second fees, when applicable, are added at repayment.

REPAYMENT/DEFERMENT
You can defer payment of principal and interest for up to four consecutive years while enrolled in school. Your first principal and interest payments become due 9 months after you graduate. Deferment options are available for residency/internship years. Any unpaid interest accrued during this period will be capitalized before you commence repayment. Repayment terms vary between 10 and 25 years, depending on cumulative amount borrowed; minimum monthly payment allowed is $50.00. There are no penalties for early repayment.

Are you a Canadian Citizens? In 1998, IEFC developed the Canadian Higher Education Loan Program to provide funding for Canadian medical students enrolled in US colleges and universities, and is now available at more than 3,000 IEFC approved schools in the US and abroad! There is no other source from which Canadian medical students can borrow the full cost of their education in US dollars.

Are you an International Students? Recognizing that there was little available to help international medical students pay for their education abroad, International Education Finance Corporation (IEFC) created the International Student Loan Program (ISLP) as the premier loan option to help them pay for their international educations in the United States and abroad.

Current federal tax laws have made some financial aid taxable income. Financial aid received (other than loans) above the cost of tuition, fees, and books are considered taxable income. You should contact the IRS or a tax preparer for additional information about Educational Income Tax Credits.

There are two educational income tax credits that can reduce you or your family’s federal taxes. They are based on your university tuition and fee charges. The Hope tax credit can be claimed during the first two years of college, up to a maximum of $1,650 per year. The Lifetime Learning tax credit is available for any level of post-secondary study, up to a current maximum of $2,000 per year. Note that only one type of credit (Hope or Lifetime Learning) may be claimed for a student in a given year. For more information about tax credits, you can visit the IRS web site at www.irs.gov.

To be considered for financial aid you must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). If you are currently receiving financial aid, you may use the Renewal FAFSA. On the FAFSA, you should list the University of choice and there code number, as one of the schools to receive your information. You are strongly encouraged to complete the FAFSA/Renewal FAFSA via the Internet. The address is www.fafsa.ed.gov. The college of your choice will receive your data electronically and they will then be able to calculate your financial aid award. The priority filing date (submitted to the federal processor) is March 1. Remember, grant funds are limited and expended quickly. File on time to ensure full consideration.

In addition, you must be accepted for admission to the university or college before a financial aid award can be issued.

Upon receipt of the FAFSA results in the Financial Aid Office, a financial aid award letter will be sent to you. You must review the award and return a signed copy of the letter to the Financial Aid Office within the given time dated on the letter. In addition, other documents may be requested from you at that time.

APPLICANTS SELECTED FOR VERIFICATION

Your application for Federal student aid may be selected for a process known as verification. This means that the Financial Aid Office must verify the accuracy of the information that you submit on the FAFSA. If selected, you must submit a verification worksheet, federal tax returns, and/or other supporting documents they are requesting. Until your information has been verified, a financial aid award cannot be issued to you.

You will be notified in writing if you have been selected for verification. You will normally have 60 days to submit the required verification documents. Failure to submit the verification documents will result in your financial aid file being closed and no award being issued. If any of the data reported on the FAFSA is found to be incorrect, your financial aid eligibility will be recalculated.

Your overall eligibility for financial aid is determined by the following calculation:

Cost of Attendance - Expected Family Contribution (EFC) = Financial Need

The cost of attendance budget for the period covered by the financial aid award is comprised of the following:

• Tuition & Fees
• Room & Board
• Books & Supplies
• Transportation
• Miscellaneous Expenses

These budgets will vary in total amounts depending on the number of hours for which you are enrolled, your class standing and where you plan to live. Read more for more on student loan taxes.

When researching and writing a college paper, the concepts of quantitative and qualitative often come into play. The following is a brief overview of the two modes of inquiry and how they factor into an academic writing.

Quantitative
The basic assumptions of quantitative research are that social facts have an objective reality and that variables can be identified and measured. Through quantitative research, the writer can predict and casually explain the results of the study. During quantitative research, the writer’s role is to be detached and objective at all times. This method is more of a factual, number-based research theory. An example of a quantitative report is the United States Census. Its findings are based solely on numbers.

Qualitative
The basic assumption of qualitative research is that reality is socially constructed. In other words it is not objective. Furthermore, the variables of the study are complex and difficult to measure. Unlike its counterpart, the qualitative research method is used to interpret and contextualize its findings. Qualitative research requires the analysis of information such as data gained through pictures, objects, and interviews.

Get more information for quantitative and qualitative research in our forum.

Double jeopardy is a constitutional right in the United States that prohibits a defendant from being tried more than once for the same crime. Canada, Japan, India, and Mexico also view double jeopardy as a constitutional right. In other countries it can be used as a procedural defense.

The concept of double jeopardy was founded based on the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause reads “nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” The objective of this clause is to limit abuse by the government through repeated prosecution. Essentially, it eliminates a form of oppression.

Specifically, double jeopardy provides U.S. citizens with three protections. First, you cannot be retried for the same crime following an acquittal. Second, you cannot be punished more than once for the same offense. Third, you do not have to face retrial after a conviction. The clause is applicable in the United States Supreme Court and all 50 States (through the incorporation of the Fourteenth Amendment).

A good example of double jeopardy can be described in the following scenario. If a person is acquitted for a crime and police find new evidence in the case, the defendant cannot be tried again on the same charge. Furthermore, the defendant cannot be charged on a similar charge linked to the case. In other words, in order to be charged based on the new evidence, a whole new crime has to come into play. For example, if an individual is acquitted or convicted for battery and later charged with the murder of the victim, double jeopardy does not bar further prosecution.

Double jeopardy attaches in a non-jury trial after the initial evidence is submitted and the first witness is sworn in. For a jury trial, jeopardy begins once the jury has been sworn in.

The North Carolina Wesleyan College provides an in-depth information piece on double jeopardy via its Web site. This document reviews the basics of double jeopardy and issues surrounding jurisdiction and miscellaneous concerns. For additional helpful law and legal resources visit School Work Legal page.

LAW UPDATE: 04/23/10: Historic Obama Health Care Reform Bill PASSED.
Strong Reaction from Law Makers, Attorneys, Lawyers and the Public
Consumers and attorneys both democrat and republican alike are split on the Health Care Reform bill being passed, which was signed into law on this historic date of April 23 2010.