How to Get Federal Student Loan
Federal Student Loans and How to Obtain Them: Going to college has become more of a luxury than a necessity these past couple of decades; mostly due to the high costs of tuition fees. A lot of college students cannot even consider going to college without first applying for a student loan. In most cases, one student loan is not even enough. These steps will help a student or his or her parents or guardians in applying for student loans.
Types of Federal Student Loans
There are two types of federal student loans which need to be understood before applying for one. The first one is direct federal loans while the second one is Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL). These two mainly differ with the type of lender of student loans. The main thing to consider that will also determine which loan to get between the two lies with the prospect college or university of the student.
In both scenarios, the financial aid office of the college or university will act as the lender through the Direct Federal Loan program; or will tell you to select a guaranteed student loan lender to manage the federal loans for them, the Federal Family Education Loans program. The loans are the same for both programs, financially and the key difference between them is the choice of payment afterwards which sometimes includes loan discounts and discounted fees.
How to Apply for Federal Student Loans
There are three types of federal student loans, Stafford Loans, Perkins Loans, and Direct Loans, all of which require the student to be eligible for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This application could be completed online or by sending the application form through snail mail. Once the FAFSA application is approved, a financial aid will be given to the student depending on the household income as well as some other variables. The student would also receive a letter from his or her college or university informing him or her how much loan assistance he or she should expect.
The FAFSA is vital for every student taking up college as it is a minimum requirement for other grants, aids, and loans for students to first be eligible for the FAFSA before even being considered in other programs. The FAFSA is also basically free money from the government as the only requirement it has is filling out a tedious 5-page application form to be considered. The fact that most students who didn’t pass the FAFSA requirements stated that they didn’t pass because they didn’t meet the deadline supports this.
Entrance counseling is needed before being eligible for a loan. This is basically a short meeting with the loaner explaining to the student what his or her responsibilities are with the loan. Once the student has graduated, he or she would again be required to take exit counseling with the loaner again to discuss repayment options. The student would be asked to answer a simple questionnaire for both counseling sessions to make sure that he or she understands the loan and repayment.