School Loans are by far one of the easiest loans you will ever obtain. When seeking a loan from the Federal Government, this is one area they have made simple. There are a few general rules you need to follow, but the results are a higher education you and your family and friends will be proud of.

The government realizes how expensive going to college has become, and this is one area they are behind you in helping those dreams come true. Some of the simple rules you must adhere to are simply applying for the free online FASFA on time, January for those starting college in the fall. If you are a returning college student, your college or university of choice will let you know it is time once again to file the FASFA forms. Pretty simply if you ask me. The reason for deadlines is simple as well. The federal government allots a specific amount every year, once that dollar amount has been exhausted, there is no more. Therefore, getting it done as soon as possible for the following year is important.

I am sure you have heard horror stories about filing the free online FASFA application (financial aid). Please do not let that scare you from the process. You simple need to have just a bit of information available and answer the questions honestly. One of the things they will request is the information found on your tax returns. If you have not yet filed, it is OK to estimate. You can go back later after filing and report the correct information. If you are estimating honestly it should not make much of a difference on your application.

The federal financial aid programs offer many different types of products for you to take advantage of. You may actually qualify for more than one program depending on your financial aid need. There are Stafford college student loans that will come in the form of subsidized or unsubsidized. A subsidized college student loan is when the government actually pays the interest for you. When it comes time for you to pay the loan back you will only be paying the principle because the federal government has already paid the interest for you. Good deal, don’t you think? An unsubsidized loan just means you will be responsible for the interest when you are in repayment. You can choose to pay the interest monthly while still in school or it can be added to the principle once you are in repayment. Your chose!

The above Stafford college student loans are the most popular of all college student loan. My guess would be because they are so easy to obtain. You may also qualify for a grant. A grant is typically monies you will not have to pay back. It is given to your school to help pay for your tuition and such. This is awarded based on your financial aid needs. The subsidized Stafford college student loan is also based on extreme financial aid need.

I encourage all new and returning college students to always apply for the federal financial aid programs (FASFA) before they seek private funding. Until you apply you really don’t know what you will qualify for. You may think you will not qualify when in reality you do. Every penny helps, so make the most of yours.

College student loans, financial aid, private college student loans, scholarships, grants. What does it all mean? It can be very confusing once a pre-college student has decided to take that step. Unless, they have a really rich uncle somewhere, what to do next can be a challenge. I was hoping I could help you out a little with these many decisions that now must be made.

One of the very first things all pre-college students should do is go to the FASFA online free application and fill it out. This particular application is what is need qualify you for any financial aid assistance. Financial aid assistance will include college student loans backed by the federal government at a low interest rate, and grants such as a Pell grant. This is free money you will never have to pay back (unless you quit school).

There are many different college student loans that could be awarded to you, such as a Stafford College Student Loan. This particular student loan will come in two different forms, subsidized and unsubsidized. A subsidized student loan is when the government pays all the interest that accrues. When you start paying back the student loan you will only pay the principle as the government will take care of the interest. An unsubsidized student loan just means you will be responsible for the interest. You can either pay the interest while in school or when the loan becomes ready to be paid back you will be paying principle and interest at the same time.

The Stafford College Student Loan is one of the most popular loans but there are many other ones as well. There is the Parent PLUS College Student Loan. This student loan is specifically designed for the parent of the college student to obtain. The interest rate will be slightly higher than the Stafford, but still very affordable. There is also a Graduate PLUS College student loan. This student loan is designed for the graduate college student going on to continue there education.

Next with the financial aid package you may be entitled to receive a grant. A federal grant is an award of financial aid assistance from a federal government agency to a college student. As I mentioned earlier you will not have to pay a grant back. It is not a student loan.

Once one has reached this place of knowledge in there quest for tuition/schooling money, if more is needed they would generally now apply for a private college student loan. A private college student loan would be obtained by a bank or financial institution. You can obtain information from your schools financial aid office, a local bank, or even on line. Because you are new at this game and have probably not establish much of a credit history the chances are you will need to obtain a co-signer. You should always solicit someone with great credit. This will only lower your interest rate, making your payments much easier to deal with once you start paying off your student loans.

This is a very brief break down of how to start and what to do. I hope you find it helpful.

Students, You May Submit the 2008-2009 FAFSA on the Web Applications by midnight CDT, June 30, 2009 at fafsa.ed.gov - it is important to note that STATE deadlines are much earlier than this Federal deadline listed. A good start date is January 2nd of each year for both State and Federal FAFSA submissions. State deadlines are at: fafsa.ed.gov/before003a.htm

Which Loan Discount is for me?

Maximum interest rates for student loans have been capped off by the government since 1965, thanks to the Higher Education Act. This great idea has made it possible for many students to handle taking on high principal loans to pay for college, and not end up in bankruptcy paying them off. What lenders today have embraced, though, is that there is no minimum interest rate that is regulated for student loan borrowers. Nor is there any minimum on fees charged for establishing the loan. So now there are incredible-sounding discount offers aimed at students that are creating a competitive market for borrowers.

So how do you know which repayment incentive is the best for you in particular? Well, that is not an easy question to answer, considering most of the repayment incentives come with strict stipulations to maintaining the benefit.

In general, the best assessment of a discount offered for a student loan is the time period required for the benefit to become valid. Realistically, there are millions of reasons a payment could wind up being late when you are in the real world. Even when you sign up for direct deposit, there is the chance there won’t be enough money in the account for one reason or another. A single late payment usually will disqualify the repayment incentive, and have you repaying any benefit you may have incurred to that date.

With that in mind, consider the “front-end” discounts that are offered with student loans. There cannot be any kind of payout made to you for choosing a particular company, because that would essentially mean the lender was paying you to place the loan with them. However, there are grace periods offered, or even principal balance reductions that are granted immediately. These don’t usually have the “on-time” payment stipulation.

If by chance the company you prefer only offers repayment incentives after a consecutive period of payments made on time, the shorter period of time required is better. Consider the possibility of a future move, or unexpected expenses that could affect your ability to get the payments made on time. The longer you need to maintain the perfect record, the more opportunity there is for other influences to get in the way of your perfect status.

Beware; some lenders will require a “written request” within a set time period before they grant the discount offered on your loan. They will not likely make an extreme effort to make that clear, nor will they be forgiving if you miss it when you read your paperwork. Once you sign, the deal is complete. Any mistakes you make, or fine print you fail to read becomes your problem to deal with. Be sure you understand all the information on your paper work before you sign, and look for the repayment incentive that seems like it will be most beneficial to you as an individual.

Student Loan DISCOUNTS!?!?

Launch yourself into the world of student loans without research, and you might as well throw money in the garbage disposal. Were you aware there are lenders that will offer DISCOUNTS on your loan just to have you as a borrower? It’s nothing like a buy one get one, or “five-finger” discount, but it can be a real financial benefit if you follow the stipulations stated.

Basically, it comes down to the simple rule of competition. Since there is no longer a rule against borrowers consolidating their loans with different lenders than the original, there is a whole new market of clients available. In order to get these new clients, the lending companies had to come up with enticing new benefits. Lucky for you, they mean financial savings.

The usual offerings for discounts will involve reducing the interest rate of the loan. This requires setting up a bank account to make automatic payments each month. They can also offer a discount if you make each monthly payment on time. They could reduce the interest rate as much as 1% if you make 36 months of payments in a row on time. Some Stafford loans will even give a 2% reduction after 48 consecutive monthly payments on time. More recently, there has been a common offer to reduce the overall principal of your loan by a percentage after a specific number of months with regular payments.

Another approach is used as incentive for graduating with your degree – straight out credits of anywhere from $250 to $750 upon graduation, or forgiving the last few payments due on the loan. For many students, this is a great little bonus as they receive their degree. For others, it is a huge benefit as they struggle to pay off the last of their student loans along with the everyday living expenses.

Important to note, though, is the fine print on the loan documents. Usually, if you decide later to consolidate the loan through a different lender, the discount is then added back to the principal balance. You will essentially repay any discount granted if you consolidate your loan to different lending institution. You also may be required to carry a minimum balance on your account in order to qualify for the discount. Obviously, the lenders do not make it a priority to inform you of these caveats. It is up to you to do the reading and understand all the information before you sign.

Keep in mind, these discounts sound fabulous, but more often than not, students will borrow from several different lenders. Then when it comes to consolidation, many of the discounts become null and void as the debt transfers to the new lender. Read the fine print, and try to look for a discount that comes as a relatively short term period, or will be a temporary help to your budget. Read all the information on all the forms, and know what you are agreeing to before you sign the dotted line.