Federal financial aid backed college student loans have several advantages over private student loans as well as credit cards. Read the rest of this entry »

Very often scholarships and Federal Financial Aid Loan Programs are not enough to cover the total cost of medical school. This is one of the reasons for a private or alternative college student loan.
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To apply for a college student loan or other forms of federal financial aid, you will first need to fill out the Free Application for Federal Financial College Student Aid (FAFSA). Read the rest of this entry »

Student loans have become the back bone of the college life. Without some kind of a college student loan you are probably not going to be able to attend college to get the higher education. Read the rest of this entry »

The purpose of all college student loan programs is to assist a college student unable to obtain sufficient tuition funds from other sources. Read the rest of this entry »

The Direct College Student Loan Program is one of many of the Federal Financial Student Aid (FSA) programs that are offered by the Department of Education, and has provided Read the rest of this entry »

The federal government offers many Federal Student Financial Aid Programs. These programs will offer you extremely low interest college student loans and grants (free money you will not have to pay back). Unlike the GI Bill, these programs are paid through the college or university of your choice; however, like the GI Bill, Federal Student Financial Aid is meant to assist you in meeting the cost of tuition, books, fees, and living expenses while you are attending school. This simply means that once the school has taken its share, the remaining college student loan or grant balance will go to you.

Federal Student Financial Aid Eligibility

You become eligible for Federal Student Financial Aid if you are all of the following:

• A high school graduate, or have a General Education Development (GED) certificate;
• Working toward a degree or certificate;
• Enrolled in an eligible school or program;
• A U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen (must have a valid Social Security Number);
• Registered with the Selective Service if required (you can use the paper or electronic FAFSA to register)

Military Service Members Are Also Eligible

It does not matter whether you are active duty, reserve, veteran, retiree, on MGIB, or not. You can and should be taking advantage of these programs. There are numerous examples of even senior active duty members receiving federal student financial aid loans as well as large grants. Remember: Grants are gifts that you do not have to pay back!

Example: In 2002-2003 an active duty E-7 with three dependents received a Direct College Student Loan for the maximum amount as well as a PELL grants for $1500 for each year attending school.

How do you start collecting on your Federal Student Financial Aid college student loans? Simply by starting with the free online FASFA. Once you have applied and they have reviewed and made a decision on your behalf you will receive the SAR report. This report will give full and complete details of all the federal student financial aid loans and grants you have qualified for. They make this process extremely easy. You just sign and the funds will be sent directly to your college or university of choice. Your tuitions and fees will be taken care of from these funds. If there are any remaining funds they will be given to you in the form of a check or put into an account for you to use as needed for schooling expenses.

I know you have probably heard horror stories about federal student financial aid loans. Do not let this detour you. More than likely, those stories are coming from people that simply did not fill the FASFA out properly or were not truthful on the application about the information provided. This is the only time it gets hairy. If you are truthful and honest on the application, I guarantee you; it will be a smooth and quick process for you. When you think and do the properly the first time the out come is always going to be good. In my 47 years of life if I have learned anything, it is to be truthful and complete. Your out come will be good as well.

It can be quite confusing when you start to look into a college student loan. There are so many directions and options out there for this particular kind of loan. One might not know which one is the right place to start. I have a theory on this that I would like to share with you. In my opinion there are two good places to start, you choose which is best for you.

When I obtained my last college student loan I went directly to the free online FASFA and applied for my loan. After that I went directly to my college’s financial aid office and spoke with my financial aid advisor. These are the two options I was speaking of. They actually do go hand in hand. You see by applying for the free online FASFA, I did exactly what my financial aid advisor would have asked me to do. She would have even sat down with me and help me fill it out. Some people find it a little bit confusing and time consuming. If you have some basic information at your finger tips before you start it will cute down the time it takes as well as the confusion it could cause. I have listed some items that will make this process easier for you below.

• Social Security Number
• Full Address
• Monthly bills and payments
• Tax returns (or estimation on Tax returns)

This is really very minimum information, but it will do wonders for you, as apposed to a private or alternative college student loan, there is much more information you would have to provide as well as passing a credit check. If you are just out of high school you probably do not have much credit at this point so unless you have a co-signer, a private or alternative college student loan would probably be out of the question. Besides the benefits of a federal financial aid college student loan will out way the lack of benefits from a private or alternative college student loan.

First of all, your interest rate on a federal college student loan will be any where between 6-8.5 percent. Depending on what loan(s) is awarded to you. A private or alternative student loan will probably be upwards of 10-14 percent interest rate. Big difference there. Also, the payment terms can differ greatly. With a Federal college student loan your loan is deferred until you have graduated or became less than a part time college student. With some private college student loans you may have to start paying back your loan immediately. Who can afford that when they are in college? Not me.

So start with the easy choices first. Go see your financial aid advisor and see what they advise you to do. Let them help you with the online FASFA application. This will greatly simplify things. They have been doing this for such a long time, in many cases they can pretty much tell you what types of loans as well as how much the college student loans will be awarded to you. The can usually get all the financial aid paperwork and loans taken care of with in a week or two, so then all you have to do is worry about your classes. Your financial aid situation will be well behind you.