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College Student Loans
A Helping Hand: College Student Loans
College students come in different shapes, sizes and backgrounds. There are those who have rich or well-to-do parents who pay for their childrens education. Some already live away from their parents and pay for their education themselves. Some others though, arent fortunate enough to have this financial capability but are very eager to continue their college education. But college tuition fees are huge investments which require large sums to be paid regularly. How can a financially handicapped individual cope with this?
Fortunately, there are a lot of colleges which offer college student loans to help out these individuals. College student loans are loans offered to students to assist in payment of the costs of professional education. Unlike scholarships, a college student loan is a form of financial aid that must be repaid, with interest, but usually has lower interest rates than other loans and are also usually issued by the government.
A good example of a government issued college student loan is the Canadian Student Loan. Canadian students are normally eligible for loans provided by the federal government, in addition to loans provided by their province of residence. But in this case, canadian college student loans are normally interest-free until one graduates, and are sometimes supplemented with grants, depending on need. Students who wish to apply for the Canadian and provincial college student loans must do so through their province of residence. The province of residence is normally the province where you lived before you were a student.
In the United States, the Federal financial aid programs offer students a lot of options regarding college student loans. Federal education college student loan programs provide lower interest rates and more flexible repayment plans than most consumer loans, making them a viable way to finance college education. The largest and most familiar federal student aid programs are:
Federal Pell Grants: Pell Grants are only awarded to undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor’s or professional degree. Pell Grant college student loan applicants must submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Awards depend on program funding. Each student can receive only one Pell Grant in an award year.
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants: This college student loan program provides grants to undergraduates with exceptional financial need (students with the lowest expected family contributions) and gives priority to students who receive federal Pell Grants. Students are automatically considered when they submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
Federal Stafford Loans: Stafford college student loans are low-interest loans available to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at least half-time, without regard to financial need. Students are allowed to borrow money for educational expenses directly from commercial lenders such as banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, and other lending institutions, or, for colleges participating in the Federal Direct Student Loan Program, from the U.S. government.
Federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students Loans: This college student loan program allows parents of undergraduate students to borrow up to the full cost of their children’s education, less any other financial aid for which the student is eligible.
Federal Perkins Loans : Another low-interest fixed rate college student loan for undergraduate and graduate students with exceptional financial need. These loans also offer generous repayment conditions. One doesn’t have to start repaying the loan, or interest on the loan, until schooling is finished or dropped below half-time status. A 9-month grace period is also given before the start of repayments.
Federal Work-Study Program : A college student loan that provides jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with demonstrated need who are enrolled on at least a half-time basis. Students are generally paid at least the prevailing federal minimum wage and may work as many as 40 hours a week.
In other countries, similar college student loan programs are also carried out in order to entice people to get into college.
Getting Student Loans: Bad Credit Or Good
If you are someone who would like to go to college but believe you can’t as a result of a bad credit report, know that you are not alone. In the current economy, millions of people are now finding it difficult to pay their monthly bills. There is a way to obtain student loans, bad credit or not. Even if you have a poor credit score, there are still lenders that handle student loans for bad credit borrowers. In fact, there are a number of companies that will help you in spite of the state of your credit report, letting you apply for a bad credit student loan.
Why You Probably Will Need A Student Loan
Nowadays, a college education is very expensive. Tuition costs at most universities run into tens of thousands of dollars each year, not including money for textbooks, individual course costs, or ordinary living expenses. Knowing all this, several institutions make substantial amounts of money available for this type of funding. The problem is that many people cannot qualify.
Although there are many sources of scholastic funding available for students, more times than not the availability of funds is limited due to the law of supply and demand. This dictates that some people apply for loans so that they can attend college or university.
Student Loans For People With Bad Credit
One of the ways that people can get funding for their education expenses is to obtain a student loan. If your credit is sub-standard, there is a way that you can get prompt approval by following this rule: Lenders love to loan to people that have first class credit ratings. If you can locate someone to cosign the loan with you, your approval is nearly always guaranteed.
This explains why private student loans for people with bad credit often seem more appropriate than applying for grants or scholarships for which you may not qualify. This virtually locks in your ability to attend a four year institution.
However, you need to know that there are advantages and disadvantages to obtaining a bad credit student loan.
The lender knows up front that your credit precludes your getting a regular bank loan. Thus it’s possible that they won’t run a credit check on you. That could spare you a bit of discomfort and embarrassment when applying for college student loans for bad credit.
On the other hand, many lenders will insist that you put up some type of property as collateral against your loan. If you and your family have nothing to put up as collateral, then you will need to seek out those lenders that do not require it.
Another thing that you must be aware of is the cost of a bad credit student loan. When it comes to student loans, bad credit almost guarantees that your costs will be greater. While there may be very competitive interest rates offered to those students with a good credit score and clean credit report, you will not be eligible for them. In fact, since you are deemed a poor credit risk, your interest rates may be quite exhorbitant. The bigger the chance that you will default on your loan, the higher the rate of interest charged.
Not only that, the amount will be compounded. This means that if you fail to repay your loan on time, the amount of interest you have due will be added to your principle, with interest and penalties added on that.
So, while it is really not difficult to qualify for college student loans, bad credit or not, there is a price to be paid. Just make certain that if you do go ahead and borrow, don’t borrow more than what you unquestionably need, and make it a priority to pay it off on time.