Student loans, so many organizations are screaming out at you, Pick Me, Pick Me! Which one, if any should we choose? Unless you win the lottery or have a rich uncle somewhere that can give you financial assistance, then a student loan is probably a necessary evil.
I must admit that the cost of an education these days can be staggering and can be very unsettling to many to say the least.
Problems to Solve
One of the problems these days is that even the parents of students that apply for loans are, in fact, considered too wealthy for them to receive any type of financial assistance in the form of free financial aid.
There are, of course many scholarships available in a wide variety of educational institutions but some of these require quite high previous academic results to obtain them.
Another alternative is to apply for as many scholarships as you can, at least 50 – 100, you might find that you will be successful in about 2-4% of those applications.
Types of Loans
There are normally three kinds of student loans and each have their pros and cons:
Federal Student Loans:
Federal Plus Loans
Private Student Loans
Also, the types of these loans will vary also between one of the following, subsidized, unsubsidized and Perkins type loans
Subsidized
These are loans where the interest is often deferred until after the student’s graduation or unless the student ceases to qualify as a student. You still have to repay the loan through the course of your studies, the interest that is due does not have to be paid until six months after you graduate.
Unsubsidized
These loans mean that you do not have to be qualified on a needs basis. The main prerequisite is that you are an enrolled student and also studying at least 50% of the time.
Perkins
These loans are normally only available for those students that have an exceptional need. Perkins loans are normally funded through the school.
Plus Loans
These types of loans are normally obtained by parents of the students. Usually the amount of the loan will only cover the cost of tuition less and other financial aid that the student has received. The payments normally start after 2 months and the term can run as long as 10 years.
Bottom Line
The bottom line here is that you must conduct your ‘due diligence’. In other words, you need to do a reasonable amount of research to work out what sort of loan will best suit your own personal situation.
Another thing to consider with student loans is that you may consider is to find some forms of passive income that will allow you to pay the loan of even quicker than the normal term of the loan.