Federal Student Loans question?
Private student loans are your last resort. If you come up short after getting any federal grants and loans and work study then you would go apply for a private loan from one of those companies. To avoid that pick a college with the lowest total cost of attendancde (COA) which is tuition, fees, books, room and board, personal expenses and travel expenses. Tuition is classroom instruction or classes. Fees can be lab fees, orientation, parking pass, gym etc. Room and board is dorm and can also include required meal but sometimes meal is separate. Personal expenses in anything you need to buy for college, dorm stuff, etc. Travel expenses is money to use to get to and from college including durinb breaks and holidays. If you have to get a private loan then they have their own terms and could or could not have a grace period, each one varies. This comes out every year about private loans: http://student-loans-review.toptenreview... This comes out every year, so learn about federal aid, loans, grants, work study: http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/f... Other helpful sites: http://www.finaid.org/ http://studentaid.ed.gov/
Student loan question--how long?
You will get at least 10 years. It took me 12. Tips to remember about borrowing for college. 1. remember once you borrow, you are committed to graduating no matter what. I don't care if you get into a car accident and are in a full body cast. Go to class in a wheelchair. The loan company will not care one way or the other. 2. Never, ever, ever, take out private student loans. If the school is more expensive than what you can cover with Federal Student loans, grants, scholarships, and work study then you need to find a better school. Yes, I said better. 3. Use loans only as a last resort, and preferably your last two years of your bachelors degree. By this time you know you are serious and will actually graduate. Too many folks drop out their first two years with debt and nothing to show for it. 4. Never borrow more (over your college career) more than what you would expect to earn your first year out of school. This will ensure you can afford the loan payments. Example: graduate with a debt of 180,000 is okay if you are going to be a Dr but not if you are going to be a kindergarten teacher making 25,000. In this instance, you would not want to borrow more than 25,000. Good luck.
Question about Taxes and a Student loan in default?
My student loan is in default (around $7000) I'm not working but I have gotten notices that they can garnish my wages or seize my tax refund. I'm planning on paying it off as soon as I go back to work because I want to go back to school, however I need my refund, is there anyway I can file without having my refund seized? does it matter that i'm married filing jointly? Can they take all of it, seeing as how over half is from my husbands income and he has no defaults against him?
Debt consolidation and student loans question?
I'm trying to repay my debt but I am having a very hard time. I have about 40k in debt including interest I've accumulated (over estimate, to be safe) most of which is 1 private and 1 federal student loan (probably 35k worth) and the rest are utility bills that are years past due. I'm in my twenties, not a home owner, and currently not a student. Most all of, if not all of, these debts have already gone to collections. I work a job with unsteady hours so I'm never sure how much my pay check will actually be for, this makes it very difficult to budget. Not to mention, I simply don't make much money. I've been actively looking for a higher paying and steadier job but haven't had luck, yet. I was wondering if debt consolidation would be a good option for me. I'm wary because so many other people here on yahoo answers have said that they are scams that ruin your credit rating and leave you owing more than you originally did. Is this true? If so, are there other ways to consolidate your debt that are safer? I'm told bankruptcy isn't an option for me because it will not cover student loans, the vast majority of my debt. Is this true? My biggest worry is my student loans, I feel confident that I could pay off my past due utility bills. So my main question here is, what is the best option for an impoverished twenty something to pay off crippling student loan debt? I really want to go back to school and finish my degree, but I don't know how I could possible afford going back to school when I'm drowning in so much debt from past student loans.
A question about accepting/declining student loans?
Only accept what you need. Contact the financial aid office and they can take care of it for you. I hate student loans! This is money that is so easily handed over to 18-year-old college students with a wicked sneer....saying "Here little girl, do you want some candy?" or "You can have all you want little boy! Here take some more, and more, and more..."...and then the trap door slams shut *BAM*. I borrowed $3,000 of student loan money for my 2nd year of college (in 1994)...and now 17 years later I now owe $12,000. I'm sure you are wondering how $3K of student loan money can turn into $12K. Well can you say subsidized? or involuntary consolidation fees? more fees? or interest accruing at a phenomenal rate? interest only payments? can you say TRAP! Listen people! These are the facts: You can not file bankruptcy on student loans. You can not write-off student loan debt. You can never get rid of student loan debt except through death... Student loan companies can garnish your wages. Student loan companies can take your taxes. Student loan companies can haunt you for the rest of your life. Student loan companies will not use Vaseline (harsh but true) ...You will owe this money until your death, even if you don't finish your degree. I encourage everyone to exhaust all other possibilities before accepting more than your first year's salary in student loans. For example, a social work (BSW) student should not accept $65,000 of student loan money. A BSW will never make $65,000/yr which equals a lifetime of debt. Run Forest Run! The research says that a student should only borrow up to their first years expected salary. scholarshipadvisor.blogspot.com
Student loan consolidation general question?
When it comes to Consolidating your Federal Student Loans through the FFELP Consolidation Loan Program you will only be allowed to obtain funds for the amount that your loans are for. Once you have a FFELP Consolidation Loan in process the company that you decide to consolidate with requests your amounts of your loans from your current Lenders, once those funds are released the amounts the checks are written for are your current loan amounts and are paid to your current Lender(s) to payoff your loans and create a new Consolidation Loan. If you are considering combining your Credit Card debt with your Federal Student Loan debt I would advise against that for two reasons. One reason is you are unable to combine your Federal Student Loans with any other debt you may have under the FFELP Consolidation Loan Program. The second reason is if you were to combine your Federal Student Loans with your other debt you would lose all your Federal Benefits that are attached to your Federal Student Loans. For more information on your Federal Benefits please visit the source below.
Do I get the money for my student loan?
Your loan agency (the government, or a private institution) will distribute the money to your college, usually about 4 weeks after your semester has begun (for a full length semester). The school will then use the money to pay off any outstanding debts you have (for classes, for registration, for tech fees, etc.). Money that is left over, will be given to you in the form of a check, about 2 weeks after that. You then have the option of either returning it to your loan agency (so you won't owe more later, and so you don't reach your loan limit before you have finished your degree)... Or cashing it and sending part of the money back to the loan agency (same reasons as above, plus building up a good line of credit, showing you pay your debts)... Or cashing it and either spending or saving it. I suggest using what you need for books, then sending the rest back to the loan agency, or depositing it into a bank account that will give you interest. Keep this money separate from the rest of your spending cash or it will soon dissapear, and remember, you always pay interest so you always end up having to pay back more than you borrowed (which is why I returned the checks, uncashed, to the government, my first two semesters in college). By the time you get to your last 1.5 years, try saving all the money...because 6 months after graduation, you have to start making large payments to the loan agency, and if you don't have a good job, you won't have the money on hand...so save their money and pay them back with it!
What is the "student loans" problem?
I will take a slightly different tack and say that the 'student loans' problem is not just the loans themselves. It has been a strong focus of the US govt to drive college attendance ever higher, since WWII (GI Bill). The US govt has extended miltary-service grants, poverty-related grants, low interest loans, and numerous other funds into the education market since that time. The US govt effectively increased the purchasing power in the hands of the education consumers, without any controls on the price of that education. The results have been massive increases in education costs because there is no price-response in the consumer (since many of them are using 'future' earnings, ie loans that were granted without qualifications).The problem now is that almost everyone can get student loans or grants to pay for college - but the price of college reflects the massive aggregate buying power of all of those US govt programs, NOT the actual ability or willingness to pay of the actual consumers. If no US education funding programs existed, college tuition would be less than half what it is today. That is the problem - everyone is buying college degrees and paying WAY too much for them because the costs have disconnected from the benefits (potential future earnings) and the Cost/Benefit ratio is no longer sustainable.
I have a question about federal student loan limits for undergrads.?
that's tough. my suggestion is to attend a JC for two years, kick butt and transfer in to a real school. that will reduce your borrowing time from 4 years to 2 years. stafford and perkins loans are the best. but if they have caps on them, there are private loans available thru sallie mae. from what i remember, stafford loans are maxed at $18,500 per year, with $10k of it unsubsidized. when i went to LMU for my undergrad and USC for my mba, i had to take out both loans. so it is possible to finance your entire education. you just have to make sure that you will make enough money with your degree to make the monthly payments. here's a quick and dirty rule of thumb: provided that you don't have massive debts (credit cards, car loans, etc) your annual salary should be at least the amount you owe on student loans. so if you want to finance $40k for your education, you better make sure you earn more than $40k per year in your job out of school.