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Welcome to Student Loan Issues How to apply for a student loan There are many factors to consider before applying for a student loan. Among these are how much is available in savings or other non-loan areas. Are you going to receive any scholarships? Is the educational institution accredited? Will you be going full time or only taking one or two classes? Make a list of the expenses for each semester. Will you be living on campus or commuting? Allow enough money to purchase books, food, clothing, and other basic supplies. Once those criteria have been established, you must allow yourself plenty of time to complete the process. Before even considering loans or grants, you must have received an acceptance letter from the educational institution of your choice. Once that has been accomplished, it is best to visit the school in person and make the acquaintance of the financial aid office. However, that is not always an option. The second step, once an acceptance letter is received and returned is to fill out the FAFSA or Financial Application For Student Aid. Most financial aid offices will help in filling out this form and sending it to the correct address. While awaiting the results from this, explore the possibilities of various grants and scholarships that are available. Again, the financial aid office will help determining the availabilities of these. The FAFSA will generate a SAR or Student Aid Report. Use this form in conjunction with grants, scholarships and other financial awards to calculate the amount of money that will need to be borrowed to ensure payment of the educational credits. If you are planning on working while attending school, these funds can be used to offset the total repayment amounts. However, the lending institutions will use these monies to determine the loan amounts available for subsequent semesters. 
While you may not be able avoid taking out a loan for college, here are six tips to help minimize the cost of your college education. Choose an affordable school. Quality of education is not directly related to the cost of education. State schools are partially funded by the government, so they are often less expensive. Most state schools offer greatly reduced rates for residents. Depending on what is required to establish residency, it might be work moving before starting college in order to get the less expensive tuition. Take a summer job. If you can find a job that is related to your area of study, it will not only help you financially, but help make you a better student as well. Look for scholarships. Many scholarship programs have been cut back in recent years, but there is still money available. Check with your financial aid department. Also check with your professors. They often know of scholarships that are handled on a departmental level instead of through financial aid. Try to get a job tutoring. Work study usually isn't at a very high pay rate, but getting paid to teach your favorite subject will often make you a better student while giving you some extra money for expenses. Consider the total cost. Don't just look at the cost of tuition when evaluating a school. Keep in mind other factors. If a nearby school would enable you to live at home, it might be much less expensive than a distant school with cheaper tuition. Consolidate college debt. Once you've graduated look for programs that will let you consolidate any debt that you have at a low interest rate. This will allow you to put more money toward the principle and pay it off quickly  |
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