For a lot of people, dreams of attending college get put on the back burner due to the cost. College is expensive, even if you plan to attend a state school. If you don’t have the money to pay for college, but you don’t want to wait until you can save up enough money, there are student loans available to assist you. Choosing the best student loan can be tricky since there are a lot of options. You want o make sure to choose the absolute best student loan.
The first choice is to choose between government and private loans. Government loans by far are the best choice. Government loans offer low interest rates with repayment schedules that span over ten to twenty five years.
If you have extreme financial need, you might even be able to qualify for a Federal Pell Grant or a Federal Perkins Loan. Since you do have to prove you have financial need to qualify for these loan options, most people don’t qualify. The absolute best student loan available is the Federal Stafford loan.
There are two types of Federal Stafford loans you might qualify for. There are the subsidized and unsubsidized loans. There are just a few differences between the two.
The Federal Stafford loan offers a subsidized loan and an unsubsidized loan. Either loan will have a lower interest rate than offered by private lenders. They also are government guaranteed loans which means the government backs the money borrowed in case you default on the loan.
Unsubsidized Stafford loans don’t have the same grace period. Once you finish school, you have to start paying back the loan. It does, however, still offer low interest rates and usually pretty convenient repayment schedules. Consider consolidating the loans you receive as soon as you graduate to save you even more money.
If you don’t qualify for the subsidized Stafford loan, you will more than likely be able to qualify for the unsubsidized Stafford loan. Once you stop going to school, the loan will go into repayment. The up side is that the interest rate on these loans is still usually pretty low.
Going to college is an option even for people who can’t afford to pay for it on their own. There might be a few exceptions to the rule, but overall, the best student loan is the Federal Stafford loan.
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