When it comes to education, no one wants to put financing as a priority. It's only natural to try to consider your educational path without having to think about how you're going to pay for it. Once you finish high school, you're probably so eager to get into a college that you don't take enough time to consider how. Student loans can easily become a heavy burden that you can carry around for years to come after graduation. To help you smoothen things out, we're listing 6 different methods that you can use to get a student loan.
1. Federal Student Loan
Usually, a federal student loan is the first type of loan people think of when they're looking to get into college. Since it's a government loan, you'll be able to find different points of contact to get to the loan. Your school's financial aid department should be the easiest stop because they're willing to go the extra mile to help you secure the loan. The first step is filling out a FAFSA form, which is the main criterion in determining the type of financial aid you're allow ed to have.
The FAFSA form is a financially detailed6 Ways To Get a Student Loan
list of inquiries, such as your assets, investment accounts, income, social security numbers, and inquiries about your parents' financial situation. Your school will pass on the federal offer once the FAFSA form is processed properly. After accepting the offer, you'll be required to take on entrance counseling, which should help you understand how student loans work.
2. Private Loans
Private loans are provided by private entities such as banks and other lending institutions. In countries where there are no federal government or similar loans available, such as Singapore, a personal loan can be taken to quickly pay for student debt or apply for a new semester. In most cases, a Singapore personal loan doesn't require a lot of prerequisites, not to mention that you can get up to 6 times your monthly income. The cash is received instantly once the loan is approved, making it a very suitable option for students with a limited timeframe.
3. Subsidized Stafford Loan
When you take a subsidized loan, you don't have to pay for any interest or fees until you graduate. Your interest is paid by the government, which is quite helpful for long programs. Subsidized Stafford loans are a bit harder to get because they require the demonstration of the inability to get other types of loans. The majority of the loans are offered to students whose families make $50,000 or less. The amount borrowed is linked to your school year. The lowest amounts are for freshmen while the highest is for those in their final year.
4. Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
The main difference between subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans is paying interest. You'll be responsible for paying for any interest incurred due to the loan. But you can still postpone the payment of interest until you finally graduate. The amounts given for unsubsidized loans is usually higher than subsidized ones. If you are financially independent of your family, the amount of the unsubsidized loan increases. There is no need to show that you're facing financial hardship to be eligible for the loan, almost every student is eligible.
5. Direct Consolidation Loan
A lot of students are usually in debt to multiple borrowers, which means that they have to take into account different interest rates, some of which may be unnecessarily unfair. Debt consolidation is not a loan that you initially take for studying, but it's rather the next step that you should take if you need more money and you've borrowed from multiple borrowers. Depending on the offer, it can provide you with extra money, lower your payments, and increase the time you can repay it in.
6. PLUS Loans
PLUS loans are available for both parents and students. Parent loans are provided for parents who have students financially dependent on them, while PLUS student loans are for graduate students. PLUS loans are considered a type of federal student loans, as they're directly funded by the government. The major upside of PLUS loans is that they allow borrowing huge amounts, compared to other types of student loans. It should cover almost any education costs that are not covered by other loans. The good thing about parent plus loans is that they can be refinanced, leading to a reduced interest rate and the possibility of paying off the debt sooner.
Fortunately, there is more than one way to get a student loan that doesn't break your back later. It's okay to feel overwhelmed at first from multiple options, especially when the decision bears a lot of weight in the future. There is no standard loan that works for everyone, so try to make sure you find one that suits your current circumstances.
