College loans are available from banks and other private sector lenders. But these are not an option for many students. Their credit history is inadequate or poor and their income is too low.
Even if students are eligible for commercial loans, they typically first explore the possibility of being granted a college loan by the federal government since they come at a lower cost. Their other advantage is that students may choose not to pay the interest bill while they are in college; they can elect to defer the interest cost until they graduate. If that option is selected, the interest cost is capitalized and added to the outstanding loan balance.
College loans are structured as either a Stafford loan or a Perkins loan. Stafford loans are the most common. Perkins loans are only available to students confronted with significant economic hardship. Students must be either a US citizen or permanently reside in the USA. Some students that are not U.S. citizens may also be approved.
Stafford loans are designed to assist students that have some income but cannot present a satisfactory credit history. A student's credit history is not generally a barrier to these loans, except if the student has defaulted on a past loan. Other requirements include the student's class load be greater than fifty percent of the academic week and that grades remain satisfactory.
Stafford loans are classified as subsidized or unsubsidized, with the interest rate on subsidized loans being lower. For the 2009-10 academic year - July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 - the interest rate applicable on a Stafford loan is 5.6 percent subsidized and 6.8 percent unsubsidized. All graduate loans, subsidized or unsubsidized, carry a 6.8 percent interest rate. Some students may be eligible for lower rates.
A Perkins loan is granted only to students facing significant economic hardship. The cost of these loans is lower than Stafford loans. For the 2009-10 academic year, the loans carry a 5.0 percent interest rate.
A Perkins loan is granted by a college, not a government agency. In other words, the lender is the school. The US Department of Education provides funding directly to some, not all, colleges for distribution as a Perkins loan. Colleges that receive federal funds for Perkins loans generally augment those funds with college funds. The college has sole discretion in deciding students that will be allocated a Perkins loan. The loan monies are first deployed to cover tuition costs. The college pays the balance to recipients on a progressive basis through the year.
Students apply for a federal college loan by submitting a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In addition to being the application for federal financial aid, the FAFSA is also used to apply for aid from other sources, such as a student's state or school. According to the official Federal Student Aid website, online applications must be submitted by midnight central daylight time, June 30, 2010.
Federal Student Aid cautions students to pay close attention to deadlines! It considers a deadline to have been met if the FAFSA is submitted successfully by that time. Federal Student Aid warns however that other institutions involved in student financial aid process, such as state authorities and schools, may not consider a deadline as having been met until documents are received, not merely submitted
Once the FAFSA application is processed, Federal Student Aid distributes a Student Aid Report (SAR) detailing its assessment of the student. Following the SAR, students are mailed an award letter outlining the types and amounts of aid they are eligible to receive.
In addition to federally funded loans, students may also be eligible for commercially-based, private sector student loans. These are useful as top-up loans to supplement monies from federal college loans, grants, scholarships and work study. Private loans can be used to pay for non-tuition, as well as tuition, costs. Private student loans are not needs-based. A credit worthy student is eligible to borrow up to the total cost of the proposed education program. Students applying for a private loan are encouraged by the lender to apply with a co-signer - usually a parent - since this will improve the likelihood of approval and also lower shave a little off the interest rate.