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Which College Loans Will Suit You Best?
Mar 19th
Few students nowadays can get through college without some form of student loan to help them out financially. With most students spending a minimum of three years studying, the costs of tuition fees, accommodation costs, living expenses and even books can soon mount up.
The main problem that many students have with their college lending is initially the fact that they simply do not know which route to take to get funding. After all, at this stage in your life you probably haven’t had to deal with borrowing money much if at all. But, as you probably appreciate, student loans do not come for free so it makes sense to choose the best and most economical option that you can.
Before you even make a start on choosing a college loan company or a loan sum you need to work out a budget. You’ll probably find that your parents will be a useful source of information here as they’ll have been down the budgeting road before. It’s important at this stage to make sure that you borrow enough to see you through but not too much.
The main types of college loan options available to you include:
#1. Federal backed loans — these types of student loans are government backed. The advantage to this kind of lending is that the lenders here have to adhere to Federal interest rate and fee levels. And, if you shop around you’ll most likely find a lot of lenders here who offer lower rates and fees than the recommended ones. The repayment schedules that you will ultimately have to use here are often better than those given by other student loan options. But, you will usually find that loans here have certain limits above which you cannot borrow any more money.
#2 Private student loans — these loans are often used once you run out of Federal options. They are offered by commercial lenders but the loans here are still specially designed for student needs. Bear in mind that the interest that you are charged here may be set at a variable rate (Federal lending may be given at a fixed rate) and interest rates in general will be higher than the state led system. You (and any guarantor you have) may be checked out from a credit rating perspective here before you will be accepted on to a loan program.
#3 Parent loans — parents can also take out specially designed loans to help pay for college costs for their kids. The most well known scheme here is probably the Federal backed PLUS (Parent Loan For Undergraduate Students) scheme. The money that can be loaned here can be used to fund certain types of college expenses. These loans remain the responsibility of your parents and they are the ones expected to make repayments. Unlike loans given to students in this way their repayment will not be deferred until their child has finished college.
In some cases you may find that you only use one of these options to get some cash to see you through college. In others you may need to use more than one loans method. In either case it is worth looking at each option in detail before you start applying for any kind of college loan to see which one gives you the best options.
About the Author:
Richard Greene helps people learn about the student loan consolidation company options at his website on the best student loan consolidation.
How To Pay Back Your Education Loans
Mar 5th
Getting loans to fund your education may be easy. After all most students nowadays will need some form of student funding which will normally take the form of one or more loans. But, paying back the loan(s) that you are given isn’t something that you always think about until the time comes when you need to start making your repayments.
Student loans come in various forms and are given by various lending institutions. Some are given with government backing and some are offered by private lenders. For this reason the actual repayment methods that you are offered for this kind of lending will be dictated by the company that gave you the loan in the first place. But, in general terms, some or all of the following options may be offered to you:
#1 Salary based repayment — in some countries it is possible to defer repaying your student loans until you have started employment. Some loans organizations here will only expect you to make repayments once your salary reaches a certain level at which point you will be charged a percentage based repayment cost. Your repayments here are often taken directly from your salary and may rise as your income rises over time until your student debt is repaid.
#2 Fixed repayment — some lenders will offer you the option of paying back a fixed sum every month that is taken towards repaying your loan(s). In many cases the sum collected here will depend on the length of time you are given to repay your borrowings. So, for example, you may be able to choose the length of time that you will make your repayments or you may be given a standard repayment term depending on the terms and conditions of your agreement with the loans provider.
#3 Rising repayment — some loans companies will offer you the chance to make a low start on your repayments which will then rise over time. This kind of scheme is usually based on the fact that your income after graduation will go up over the years. So, as time passes you will be able to afford to pay off more every month. In this instance you will usually agree a time schedule when your repayments will rise with the lender.
You may find that the repayment options that you are given by the lenders you used in the first place can vary widely. To a certain extent this depends on where you are based, how much you borrowed and how flexible the student loans company will be.
In some cases you will be allowed to make lump sum repayments as well or to pay off lump sums before your repayment obligations actually start. This can be a good option to consider if you can afford it. Anything you can do to reduce your loan will save you money in the long run.
If you are given a choice on repayment terms and the length of time you have to make your repayments then do think hard about how much you can afford to repay. Obviously, you will need enough money to live on once you graduate so this is a consideration here.
Do not, however, automatically think that making lower repayments over a longer time period will be the best option for you in this instance. This may keep your monthly repayment costs low but it could result in your paying back more than you need to over time.
About the Author:
Richard Greene helps people learn about the best student loans consolidation program at his website on the best student loan consolidation.