Anyone know anything about Student Loans?

[Manda1219]

So, today, I have come to the conclusion that in order for me to graduate next spring, I will have to *gulp* take out student loans. My bank account is pretty much empty, and my car is just about dead (It's a 94 Saturn with over 150,000 miles!) so I will be needing a more reliable one (as it took me about 7 minutes to get it started today...).
Anyways-I have NO CLUE regarding student loans, and I won't be able to get to my schools financial aid office for at least 2 weeks so I was wondering if anyone had any info regarding them.
Are there any that are considered better? How long does it take to get one? Are there typically limits as to how much you can take? I will need approx. $7000 to finish, over a 2 semester period (Summer-Fall and Spring) What is a typical interest rate?
My mind is blank right now, so any other info is also appreciated as I am soo confused.
I looked into one that goes through the college online-but it said it would be deposited directly towards your tuition, do these loans not cover books? Those alone will cost at least $1500 over the next year....
Thank you!

 

[CBRorBust]

Well...

First thing you need to do is fill out a FAFSA. After that, they will tell you whether or not you qualify for any grants. If you don't, then you will be able to take out a loan depending on what your status is. If you have a year left to graduate, I'm assuming that you are at least a senior by now. Having said that, they will loan you $5,500. That is if you take out only a subsidized loan. You can take out both a susbsidized and unsubsidzed loan for a max total of $10,500. You also need to factor in that they aren't going to give you all of the loan at once. They split it up into two seperate checks. This may or may not be a good thing because it may not be enough for that semester.

Example: My tuition plus my books plus supplies, etc. was about 1k more than what they sent me for this semester. Now Next semester I am taking less hours and won't need the full amount of the check, so because of that, I had to borrow money from my parents to finish paying this semesters debt until I get my next check.

How much you can get also depends on if you are married, have kids, etc.

I know this isn't much help, but it's a start.

 

[Growin'upDisney]

CBRorBust is right - fill out the FAFSA ASAP - you can do it on-line @ www.fafsa.ed.gov. You may qualify for state aid as well as federal aid. But do it quickly because in some states (like CA) you form has to be in by March 1 in order to qualify for state aid.

 

[rhett972]

I am a Product Support Manager for a major student loan corporation. I can provide any information you need.
First of all, getting a student loan is not only easy, it's extremely smart. With interest rates currently below 4%, you can't find a better deal anywhere. (If nothing else, get the loan and payoff your credit cards). You won't even have to make a payment until 6 months after you graduate.
Technically, the student loan can be used for anything school-related - this even includes transportation, day care, food, and computer equipment - although I am have never heard of anyone being asked for receipts to prove what they spent it on.
The amount you receive is based only on the year you are in school. The farther along you are, the more you can qualify for. It has nothing to do with your income, children, or ethnicity. As long as you are an independent student (over 24 or a few other criteria) you can receive up to $6625 for freshman and up to $10,500 for junior and senior year.
To begin, as noted above, you must fill out a FAFSA. You can now do this online with e-signature and it is suprisingly painless. www.fafsa.ed.gov
Please, don't hesitate to PM me or send me an email if you have any additional questions on this subject. (I just returned to school myself!) Best of luck.

 

[weaselboy]

You should go to your college's financial aid office. That's what they are there for.

 

[DocRafiki]

I'm not as knowledgeable about student loans as rhett is, but I have to agree that it is the smart thing to do. The interest rates are likely lower than anything else you will ever get, so it would even be a good idea to take out extra in order to buy a car. I have enormous student loans, but they are still on the bottom of my priority list as far as what to pay off. It's more beneficial for me to put extra savings into my 401K, towards my car loan, or even to save towards a down payment on a house, than it is to pay off my student loan. I will pay them off as slowly as they will let me, seeing as how I have other debts with higher interest (and am wasting money renting a house!). Soo... my point is... don't fear the debt! Use it to your advantage! You just have to be sure that you'll finish school and will be able to get a decently-paying job when you graduate. (A general estimate for what you will owe every month is 1% of the loan, or $100 for every $10,000 borrowed. I think that is the estimate for a 30-year loan, not sure. Still, if you are underemployed after school, the loan companies are very forgiving and will let you defer payments for a while.)

For the extra expenses... the loan company will pay off your school, and then the school will give you a "refund" check. Waiting for that refund check can be very stressful for some. I know UCF had problems getting theirs out at one point this year -- students had to wait for months. If there is a hold-up with your check and you're really in trouble, some schools will front you the money with a different type of loan that is interest free as long as you repay it within 6 months or so (enough time to get your refund check).

And if you need more money than the government allows, then you can turn to private student loans. Try to avoid it if you can. It can be confusing having to deal with more than one loan company. The rates are higher but still pretty low. Let me know if you need info on private loans if no one can help you. I got the info from a classmate after my student aid office told me there was NO way I could get any more money! Hopefully you will be ok on the government loans, though.

 

[Manda1219]

Thanks everyone! This is all VERY helpful. I did the FAFSA thing last year, and it helped-but of course the Fin. Aid doesn't cover everything! I'm going to fill out this years FAFSA by the weekend so I can get started, and then I'm planning on stopping by the fin. aid office sometime soon!
Luckily, I am up to date as far as credit card bills are concerned! A lot of my friends have gotten themselves into a mess with them, but I only put things on there I know I can pay for at the end of the month!
Thanks again for all the help!

 

[seashoreCM]

Try not to let the school draw more than a semester's worth of loan money at a time. Try not to let the school draw money whenever it wants to without your signature each time.

A lot of students were left with the debt when a school went out of business and closed its doors. Student loans cannot be cancelled with bankruptcy.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

The same goes for other kinds of loans such as construction loans where a contractor draws money, you should insist on an arrangement where money is let out only little by little with your signature for each installment.

 

[kadaten]

When you do it, make sure you keep really good records! I took out a loan to finish my senior year. About 2 years later I notice that my loan amount doubled again. HUH? Come to find out, they had re-disbursed my loans to my school, 18 months after I originally got them. I never asked for or approved this. Luckily, since I didn't have a bill and hadn't asked for the check, the money was still in the school's loan account and it just had to be credited back to the gov't, but WHOA! That shouldn't have happened. Noone has been able to explain how it did! But do keep good records in case you need to fix any discrepancies!

Katie