Loans Information


All About Student Loans


A student loan is an unsecured loan made by lenders that receive government underwriting assistance. Without this government assistance, student loans would not be very practical. Lenders would find other more profitable arenas in which to loan their money. Nobody would be able to get a low interest student loan - without the help of a parent with a substantial financial history and reasonable means. Like any government sponsored program, there are rules and regulations and red tape to deal with. In the case of student loan red tape, it all begins with a financial aid form called the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

This form establishes the student's eligibility (or ineligibility) for all manner of student loan assistance, including low interest loans. This form can be filled out and submitted as a regular paper form, or it can be filled out and tracked online (much easier). The guidance office at your High School is likely to have a pile of these forms. Libraries and College Admissions offices are other places to look for the paper version of the form. If all else fails and you really want the paper version of the FAFSA, you can get one by calling 1-800-4-FED-AID.

Most people find it more convenient to simply log on to www.fafsa.ed.gov and submit the form electronically. By doing it this way you also automatically get a way to look in on the status of your application. Supposedly, doing the form online can make the process from one to two weeks faster than submitting the paper form. Either way, you will find that the form is relatively easy to fill out, and typically will require much of the same information that would be included in the parent's tax returns.

Student loans are also available to those who turn out to be ineligible for the regular unsecured low interest student loans. These other loans are normally called Parent Plus loans or private alternative loans, or just "alternative loans". These are basically loans made with a co-signature from the parents. In effect it's no different from a young person buying a car with a parent's co-signature. Both the student and the parents are on the hook for repayment of the loan.

Because of the government regulation involved with the unsecured student loans, this is one of the few types of loans that do not require a whole lot of shopping around. There is not a lot of variability in the interest rates and other features of the government sponsored loans. The same is not true for the Parent Plus loans or private alternative loans. With those you do need to shop around.

So the first step is really to fill out a FAFSA form well in advance of the time tuition is due and use that to start your quest for college money. This will help you to determine what kind of student loans you are eligible for and assist you greatly in your loan shopping.

You can learn more about your options and how to apply for student loans by going to my website at - http://www.creditcards-and-loans.com/student-loans.html

Jeff Pritchard is a webmaster with several informative websites and primary author of the new website http://www.creditcards-and-loans.com. This site is a supermarket for all types of credit and loans. You can learn about the options and differences between various kinds of loans and find all the best and latest loan offers.


MORE RESOURCES:

Arcil to buy more of bad home loans
Sify, India - 49 minutes ago
Mumbai: Trickle by trickle, banks are unloading their bad home loans to the Asset Reconstruction Company India Ltd (Arcil), the aggregator of distressed ...
IOB enters JV to recover bad loans Business Standard
all 3 news articles


Bank’s loans target pastoralists
Daily Nation, Kenya - 6 hours ago
K-Rep Bank has started giving loans to livestock farmers in the northern and upper eastern districts which had largely been overlooked by other banks in the ...


News & Observer

MOE denies report on student loan defaults
China Post, Taiwan - 54 minutes ago
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Ministry of Education denied yesterday that the student loan default ratio has surpassed 12 percent and that the amount of overdue ...
If you want to borrow a lot of money for college, you are not ... Chicago Tribune
Credit squeeze puts pressure on private student loans Action 3 News
Bond Crisis Already Crimping States Kansas City infoZine
DesMoinesRegister.com - News & Observer
all 30 news articles


US banks turn to Fed for $50bn in short-term loans
Times Online, UK - 1 hour ago
American banks are thought to have borrowed as much as $50 billion (ÂŁ25.6 billion) in short-term loans from the US Federal Reserve, it emerged last night, ...


Women can access loans through new fund
Independent Online, South Africa - 3 hours ago
It will offer loans from R30 000 to R2-million in a first phase aimed at small to medium enterprises. Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa said at ...


Calgary Herald

Sandler says N. Rock could take years to repay loans
Reuters UK, UK - 11 hours ago
NEWCASTLE (Reuters) - Embattled mortgage bank Northern Rock could take "some years" to repay 25 billion pounds of government loans, its new executive ...
Risky Northern Rock rescue plan may take years, new chairman says Xinhua
NRock will return to private ownership - Sandler ifaonline.co.uk
Sandler: Northern Rock will take years to stabilise FT Adviser
Telegraph.co.uk - Guardian Unlimited
all 393 news articles


Banks tighten lending standards for business loans
MSNBC - 18 hours ago
Francisco "Pancho" Marrero, director of the Small Business Administration's southern Florida district, notes the number of SBA-backed loans from banks has ...


Senators warn against 'instant rebate' loans
Dallas Morning News, TX - 22 hours ago
The senators said that families due large rebate checks starting in May need to be wary of upfront loans that promise rebates without the wait but come with ...


Emirates NBD bank sees home loans jump as rates fall
Reuters - 14 hours ago
Lenders in United Arab Emirates, one of five Gulf oil producers that peg their currencies to the dollar, are lowering interest rates for homes loans as the ...


Wall St. Banks Confront a String of Write-Downs
New York Times, United States - 25 minutes ago
High-risk loans used to finance corporate buyouts have plummeted in value. Securities backed by commercial real estate mortgages and student loans have ...
Many more job cuts ahead for Wall St banks Reuters South Africa
all 5 news articles

Loans - Google News












home | site map
© 2007