Student Loans : News, Updates and Blog Posts

If you’re looking to attend graduate school, you will want to be sure to exhaust all avenues to help you cover the cost. While your credit is likely improved enough where you can take out an alternative student loan or Grad PLUS loan, you still have rent, car payments and other bills to consider. So if you already have a full-time job, be sure to contact your employer about tuition reimbursement.

Tuition reimbursement benefits are offered by many employers, and essentially means the employer will cover some, if not all, of the cost of attending graduate school. The mentality for employers is that by attending grad school, the employer will gain a more advanced skill set in a particular field, and thus, be more valuable to the company.

Tuition reimbursement varies from company to company. Some offer to pay for one class at a time; others give you a set amount to use toward tuition each year. Contact your human resources department for more information.

Hello folks! In our rush of excitement over the passing of SAFRA, we forgot to blog about this year’s federal student loan interest rates.

Here is the complete listing, all in one place for convenience:

Undergraduate

• Unsubsidized Direct Stafford Loan: 6.80% APR
• Subsidized Direct Stafford Loan: 4.50% APR

Graduate

• Unsubsidized Direct Stafford Loan: 6.80% APR
• Subsidized Direct Stafford Loan: 6.80% APR
• Direct Graduate PLUS Loan: 7.90% APR (unsubsidized)

Others

• Perkins Loan: 5.00% APR
• Direct Parent PLUS Loan: 7.90% APR (unsubsidized)
• Direct Consolidation Loan: Weighted average of consolidated loans, rounded up to the nearest 1/8th percent (0.125%)

If you have any questions about how these loans work, post them in our financial aid forum. We are always happy to answer your questions and have hundreds of users active daily to help out with their personal experience.

Best wishes for a fantastic school year students!

A lot of the blogs on Student Loan Network focus on how to get a loan or the benefits of each. Today, I’d like to take a different perspective and provide some helpful information for students who already have them; specifically, what you can do to minimize your student loan debt and take full advantage of your loan benefits.

1. Keep an eye on rewards and incentives.

Did you know that the vast majority of private lenders offer repayment incentives such as interest rate reductions? In many cases, these reductions come from automating payments through a checking or savings account (ACH). 0.25% is the common amount. (more…)

If you’ve ever seen those ads on TV late at night asking, “Do you know where your kids are?” you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, well, now you do!

Just as important as knowing what your children are up to at night is the status of your student loans. Specifically, their interest rates and repayment plans. Did you know that because nearly all private student loans have variable APRs, your interest rate could have changed several times in the past 2 years?

One way to make it easier to keep track of your loans is to consolidate them. Of course, there are a lot more benefits than just having one bill and interest rate. Here are some more loan consolidation benefits:

• A credit score boost
• Lowers your monthly payments up to 50% (at the expense of more interest overall)
• The interest rate for private consolidation can actually end up being lower than the average of your consolidated loans (saving money!) based on credit

Sound good to you? If so, then get started on a loan consolidation!

Hi readers! If you’re confused by the federal Direct Loans switchover currently in progress, you’ll be happy to know that we’ve put together a guide to the steps required to apply for and receive federal direct loans.

Download the Direct Loans Guide PDF »

You will need Adobe Reader (or other PDF software like Apple Preview) to view it, so if you don’t have it installed, download Adobe Reader.

If you’d like some more general information about aid and loans, check out our full-feature e-book Finding Financial Aid 2010.

As always, thank you for being a loyal reader. We look forward to answering your questions as the new academic year begins.

Many students from around the world flock to the U.S. to earn a college degree. Likewise many American students choose to study abroad for a semester. Both groups are likely to wonder how they can pay to study overseas. Here are some of the financial aid options that are available.

International Students

Private Loans – A student who is not a U.S. citizen but wishes to get a degree in the states is eligible to receive a private student loan to cover tuition and other costs of attendance, such as housing and books.

To receive the loan, an international student must have a U.S. citizen cosign the loan. International private student loans carry many of the same benefits as those designated to American students, including flexible repayment terms and a .25% interest rate reduction for direct withdrawal of payments. Compare and apply for a private student loan today.

Federal Loans – Unfortunately, international students who attend college in the Untied States are not eligible for any federal direct loans including Stafford loans, PLUS loans and Perkins loans

U.S. Student Studying Abroad

Federal Loans – U.S. students studying abroad or who are enrolled in an approved school overseas can use federal student funding to cover tuition and other costs of education. They may receive federal aid the same way they would if they were studying in the U.S., by filling out the  the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Private Loans - U.S. students may also apply for a private student loan to study abroad. Depending on their credit, they are subject to varying interest rates and may require a cosigner. Compare and apply for a private student loan today.

Both groups are of course eligible for scholarships. Scholarships are the best form of financial aid because they do not need to be paid back and do not charge any interest. For more information about international scholarships, visit www.StudentScholarshipSearch.com.

If you recently earned a graduate degree and are having difficulty either finding a job, or making ends meet with an existing job, you may have the option to defer, or temporarily suspend, your graduate school loans. It is important to remember that deferment of your federal graduate loans is not a way to avoid paying the loans back altogether, but rather a way to avoid falling deeper into a financial abyss.

There are two most common types of deferment:

The first is Economic Hardship Deferment. You may qualify for this brand of deferment provided that:

• You are receiving payment under a federal or state public assistance program, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Food Stamps.
• You are serving as a Peace Corps volunteer.
• You are working full-time and your total monthly gross income from employment is less than the monthly minimum wage or 150% of your state’s poverty guideline.

The second type of deferment is loan forbearance. The primary difference between the two is that while in forbearance, interest will continue to accrue on the principal of your loan. That means your debt will continually increase while in deferment.

You are allotted 36 months of federal loan deferment entitlement regardless of which deferment you take advantage of and must reapply every 12 months.

Finding the time to get a graduate degree is not easy. Whether you are balancing a family, a full-time job, or both, some prospective grad students are forced to only take one or two classes per semester to accommodate their schedule.

Securing financial aid can be very difficult as well. If you are a less than half-time student, you are ineligible to receive federal financial aid.

But there are options.  You can visit our private student loan comparison tool to get an overview of lender criteria.

If you have a full-time job, check with your employer to see if there are any tuition reimbursement programs. Many companies will cover some or all of an employee’s tuition if they are involved in a program that would benefit their current career path.

Finally, you can consider an online degree. Online degrees are generally more flexible with course offerings. Visit Edvisors.com for additional information about this option and to find out which online school is best for you.

If federal aid and scholarships have left you staring at a financial abyss to pay for college, you might be considering applying for a private student loan. To be eligible for a loan, you must meet the following criteria:

You must be a U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident. If you are using a cosigner, he or she must also be a U.S. citizen or resident. You will both need a valid social security number.

You must attend an eligible school, such as a community college, two or four-year college or university, or eligible graduate program. Contact your financial aid office to ensure the school can certify a private student loan for you.

You must pass a credit check to be approved.  Lenders typically prefer borrowers have a credit score of 650+. If your score is below that mark, you may have to tab a cosigner with a stronger credit history to cosign the loan for you.

Compare lenders | Apply today!

Alright folks, we’ve answered hundreds of questions on our financial aid forum this season and now we have one for you: How are we doing?

Our mission is to provide you, our readers, with the highest quality financial aid information, advice and news as possible. Please vote below and leave a comment. Do you have a suggestion to improve our sites or is there a subject you’d like to see more of?

As always, thank you for reading and we look forward to serving up the freshest information for a long time to come!

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