Tag Archives: students
The Lowdown on Citi Student Credit Card
Most credit cards would make it a prerequisite for applicants to have a credit history before their application can be approved. With this, students may find their choices of credit cards rather limited. However, the Citi Platinum Select Card for College Students is designed specially to meet the needs of students.
There are no annual fees incurred for this card, although the APR is higher than most other credit cards. Furthermore, the APR is based on a variable rate with the figure tied to the Prime Rate. Nonetheless, there is always the 6-months 0% APR (for balance transfers, cash advances and purchases) and a cashback reward program to fall back on.
Apart from that, the cash rebate program rewards students with up to 5% of the amount spent on purchases charged to the card. Purchases made with the Citi Student credit card at supermarkets, drugstores and participating merchant partners are eligible for a 5% cash return. Nevertheless, lower cash rebates of 1% are applicable for cash advances and check transactions.
The downside to this is that cash rebates will be issued through $50 checks with rebates for general purchases limited to $300 a year. Other attributes of the card include a 20-day interest-free grace period each month, and a minimum credit limit of $500.
Interest charges are calculated based on an average daily balance method but as always, it may not be advisable for consumers to make late payments. Accounts can be managed online and customers are given the choice to pay their bills automatically. As a safety feature, the Citi Student credit card provides an option for the card holders photo to be printed on the card to prevent identity theft occurrences. Ultimately, this card serves as their stepping stone for students towards building a strong credit history, which is vital for their future financial dealings. Concurrently, this would also be a great card to instill spending habits discipline in young adults.
Medical School Loans
Are you worried with the fact that your child has opted for medical education which is quite a high-ticket option and you won’t be able to support it? Think no more when medical school loans are around to help your offspring execute his or her dream to become a medical professional.
Medical student loan consolidation is quite an easy option for you. You can make best use of medical student loans rendered by both state sponsored organizations and private lenders. Many people are of the opinion that availing a medical student loan means to be in debt for years. Such burden on the shoulders of the young students may affect their studies. But this is not so. Today repayment of medical loans is quite flexible and easy.
Medical school student loans are furnished by federal sponsored programs like National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Scholarship Program. This NHSC is a very good plan for medical students who want financial aid to conclude their studies and meet all medical education expenses. NHSC loan program is financed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service.
Such national student loans for medical school programs are based on ‘support for service’ plan. Repayment of national financial aid is very casual. Any student who obtains such loan has to commit to serve government run health organizations or similar health care units for a few years.
This way the loan amount disbursed to a student gets deducted and you become free from debt too. National loan programs also offer medical residency loans to students who want to pursue higher education and do specialization.
The amount of medical student loan sanctioned varies from lender to lender. Most of them cover full expenses of medical studies including tuition fee, books expenses and person’s monthly stipends. The interest rates on financial aid for medical students also differ from lender to lender. Usually medical school private loan has higher rate of interest than a state or federal sponsored loan.
Besides the NHSC loans and other state sponsored loans you can take Stafford medical loans. There are two types of graduate Stafford student medical loans. One is subsidized Stafford Loan which is awarded based on the financial need of the student where interest is not charged till you start your repayment. And the other one is unsubsidized Stafford Loan. This is available for all students without financial need and the interest begins from the time the loan is disbursed.
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) too offers different types of loans to medical students. When private medical loans charge too high interest rates, such loans from state sponsored organizations serve as a better option.
You must take care of repayment of medical student loans as well. Make a proper plan and opt for those loans which offer you a flexible and affordable repayment plan. Various medical schools have facilitated counseling on medical school loans for parents and guardians to help them get easy loans without any difficulty. They guide them on rules and regulations regarding the repayment too.