Every year, thousands of students in the US who are short of cash to pursue further studies seek financial assistance from external sources. This typically happens when the resources they already have access to- from family and their own savings – is inadequate to fulfill their desire of advanced education. Although, several financial institutions are available to lend monetary help, the terms and conditions they offer are not always feasible. The government college loan program is devised to help students who require education loans with flexible terms for pursuing higher studies. Apart from providing education loans, government college loans also cover tuition fees, books and laboratory fees.
How to apply
To apply for a government college loan, students can collect the application form from any of the government loan agencies or from their college itself. Nowadays students also have the option of logging on to the official government college loan website and register online with all the necessary details. Once the application is filled, it has to be posted along with the stipulated documents to the concerned government loan agency from where the student proposes to take up the loan. The application and the documents are thoroughly scrutinized to make sure that the student is availing loan for studies and not for personal requirements. If the submission is found to be genuine, an acceptance letter is dispatched to the student with details of when and how much money will be provided, terms of payment and the applicable interest rates.
Terms and conditions
Students do not have to follow any stringent norms to take advantage of most government loans. The program allows students to take advantage of multiple repayment programs, which can aid them in softening the burden of their loan; they can continue with their studies while being assured that the loans are taken care of. Government agencies in the US do not undertake a credit check before sanctioning the loans and lend almost sixty billion dollars annually for student needs. Usually students borrow in the range of ten thousand dollars since that is the average fee for a higher educational course and the term for most loans between $10,000 and $19,999 is 15 years.
When the students are lent certain amounts of money by the government, they are granted a ‘no interest’ period during which absolutely no interest is charged on their loan amount. Though this looks very attractive, care needs to be taken to be regular with the repayment amounts after the no interest period is over. This is because after the no interest phase, the government retains the right to sell your loan to the highest bidder. This can lead to the loan getting much more expensive as the interest rate will be reset by the new custodian of the loan.
Some of the popular government loan agencies include:
PERK – Federal Perkins Loans, formerly known as Nations Defense/National Direct Student Loans (NDSL).
PLUS – Federal PLUS (Parent) Loans.
SLS – Federal Supplemental Loans for Students (formerly Auxiliary Loans to Assist Students (ALAS) and Student PLUS Loans).
SS – Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans & Guaranteed Student Loans (GSL).
DSS/DUS – Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans.
By: Gibran Selman About the Author:
Gibran Selman works for
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