College has become very expensive to pay for these days. Not many people are able to pay college tuition nowadays without financial aid. If you’re trying to figure out how you’re going to swing it, you might be in the market for a student loan.
Keep in contact with the lender. When you make changes to your address or phone number, make sure you let them know. You should also be sure to read all of the information you receive from the lender, whether electronic or paper. Take action right away. Missing anything could make you owe a lot more money.
If you want to pay down student loans faster than scheduled, start with the highest interest rate loans first. You may owe more money if you don’t prioritize.
Look to pay off loans based on their scheduled interest rate. You should pay off the loan that has the highest interest first. Then utilize the extra cash to pay off the other loans. There are no penalties for early payments.
To make your student loan money stretch even farther, consider taking more credit hours. To be considered a full-time student, you usually have to carry at least nine or 12 credits, but you can usually take as many as 18 credit each semester, which means that it takes less time for you to graduate. This helps you reduce the amount you need to borrow.
Perkins Loan
The best federal loans are the Stafford loan and the Perkins loan. This is because they come with an affordable cost and are considered to be two of the safest loans. They are great because while you are in school, your interest is paid by the government. Interest rates for a Perkins loan will be around 5%. On Stafford loans that are subsidized, the loan will be fixed and no larger than 6.8%.
Look into PLUS loans for your graduate work. The highest the interest rate will go is 8.5%. This is a better rate than that of a private loan, though higher that those of Perkins or Stafford loans. It’s a good option for students pursuing higher education.
While student loans can help make college affordable for a number of people, they must be repaid. A lot of people borrow money to get into college without realizing that they need to come up with a repayment plan. With what you’ve learned in the article above, you should be able to get yourself into college without it costing you too much.