Finance Tips

Nowadays, the cost of higher education is getting more and more expensive. Some families may not be able to afford to send their son or daughter for further education. Getting a student loan will help.

There are 2 broad categories of student loans available. Government student loans and private student loans

Government or federal student loans are funded and administered by the US Department Of Education. It is classified under Federal Student Loans Aid Program. They have very few requirements other than you are studying in a US college or university. International students may also apply though approval is on a case by case basis.

Every year, the student loan aid program disburse nearly 60 billion dollars so it is a good choice for get a student loan from the government. Thus the interest rates are pretty low.

Private student loans are funded and administered by banks and other financial institutions. These lenders provide student loans at a higher interest rate compared to federal student loans. Some common student loans available are from Citibank and Sallie Mae

You are allowed to apply for both private and federal student loans for your education needs although I would not recommend it.

For some students who have a few student loans to repay concurrently, it can be a financial drain on their family finances. That is where student loan consolidation comes in.

Student loan consolidation basically consolidates all your student loans into one loan so that it is easier to manage and make payments. When you are getting a student loan consolidation whether from the government or the private market, your existing student loans are paid for and erased by the student loan consolidation lender. The balances are transferred to the new student loan consolidation. Thus you start a new loan and only needs to make a single payment each month.

There are many advantages to using student loan consolidation. The interest rates will be lower since it takes the average interest rates of your previous student loans. Thus due to government legislation, the maximum interest rate cannot be higher than 8.25 percent.

It becomes a lot easier to manage a single student loan and payment are easier. The repayment options are quite flexible. For federal student loan consolidation, you can opt to start repaying after you have graduated from school. There are also several other options.

Another beneficial side-effect of student loan consolidation is that it can also improves your credit score. Since you are effectively clearing all your old student loans and taking a new one, your credit score will increase and is important if plan to take other types of loans in the future.

If you are considering entering college in the near future you should be aware of the many different types of government and federal student loans. While many colleges do offer free student loan scholarships and there are various types of need-based financial aid and grants available; loans still make up the major portion of funding for the cost of education for most college students. Private student loans are also available; however the advantages of federal student loans usually far outweigh any benefits of private student loans; if you qualify to receive them.

Private college loans are credit based and may involve a co-signer from the students parent. You must qualify to receive a private student loan even though the loan program features are quite attractive. The National Student Loan Center or the NSLC offers many private low cost low rate college student loan programs. The NSLC also offers private as well as government student loans. An especially attractive student loan program offered by the NSLC, is the NSLC PLUS loan program; which gives parents of students the option to borrow up to 100% of their child’s cost of education. This is nice because the cost of higher education institutions is blasting through the roof every year! Armed with this type of higher education financing, a college student can fund everthing from room and board to books and just have to concentrate on studies.

Government and federal student loans allow college loans without a cosigner. They are non credit based student loans. Credit is not even looked at under federal college loan programs for students. Their will always be a student loan lien on the students credit until the college loan is finally paid.

Perkins Loan

One of the most common government and federal student loans is the Perkins loan. It comes with a low interest rate of only 5% and is awarded to both undergraduate and graduate students. There are no origination fees charged for this loan and it is paid back to the school because loan funds are issued directly from the school to the student from monies provided by the government. Take a look at the following facts regarding the Perkins Loan:

Need based loan; only those students with exception financial need will qualify Able to borrow up to $4,000 for each year of undergraduate study and $6,000 for each year of graduate study. Loan limits are $20,000 for two years of undergraduate study and $40,000 for graduate school.

FFELP (Federal Family Education Loan Program)

This is also another common loan and features both subsidized and unsubsidized student loans. The difference between the two is that the government will pay for the interest of the student loan while the student is in school and during the grace period of a subsidized student loan while the student is responsible for the interest in an unsubsidized student loan. Additionally, students must display a financial need to qualify for a subsidized student loan while the unsubsidized student loan is non need based.

Federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)

This type of student loan is available to parents and guardians of dependent undergraduate students. Borrowers do not need to demonstrate financial need and may borrow up to the cost of attendance; minus any amount of financial aid that may be received. Loan funds are first applied to tuition and fees. This type of government and federal student loan has a variable interest rate.

A student loan consolidation centre allows you to combine several types of federal student loans with various repayment schedules into one loan with one monthly repayment.

It is best to search for loan consolidation centers which offer minimal rates of interest. A student is qualified for a maximum of 1 percent reduction on the interest rate, if he pays on time for thirty six consecutive payments. While still attending school, students having federal direct loans are able to consolidate by means of the federal consolidation program provided by the government.

Most student consolidation loans fall into two categories. They are government student loans and private student loans. Student consolidation loan centers provide loans such as federal, Stafford, professional student loans, nursing student loans etc.

The government loan consolidation centre is providing a student loan consolidation program which allows students to consolidate outstanding education loans into a single new loan. This is not limited to a single lender. Even if multiple lenders hold the loans, one can still opt to consolidate. Two popular online student consolidation loan centers are Internet student loans centre and US student loan consolidation centre. Next student is another popular student loan consolidating centre. It is offering student loan payments lower by up to 60% or more. Sallie Mae loan consolidation centre offers federal consolidation loans. The Citibank student loan corporation is giving federal and private loan consolidation. Wachovia consolidating loan centre is giving federal Stafford loans.

Students must only consolidate loans which are of variable or changing rates such as the Stafford Loans. Never consolidate on fixed-rate loans such as Perkins loans as there won?t be any financial benefit. Interest rates for college students who are already adults or on their way to sixth month grace period will be higher.

You need help with your Student Loans Without a CoSigner.

The way institutions cost these days it’s becoming more and more out of the reach of most parents to give their child the education they want.


What if you could borrow up to 100% of their child’s cost of education. You could then pay for all the expensive college expenses. From room board to books.


Your child needs to concentrate on their studies, not worrying about where the next dollar is going to come from – this is the biggest detriment to your child not getting through college and having to drop out.

A fantastic student loan program offered by the The National Student Loan Center – NSLC, is the NSLC PLUS loan program. They will give you 100% loan for your child’s education.

Did you know that Government and federal student loans allow college loans without a cosigner?

There are a few different government loans to consider.

No CoSigner Loans – FFELP (Federal Family Education Loan Program)

This loan type is a common loan and features both subsidized and unsubsidized student loans. With the subsidized style of loan the government will pay all the interest during the duration of the loan – as long as the student is of course in school or finished their studies but in the grace period. Note that for this type of loan you need students to display a financial need to qualify.

No CoSigner Loans – Perkins Loan

This is the most common government and federal student loans. The main feature is the low interest rate of only 5%, this is provided for both graduate and undergraduate students.


No CoSigner Loans – Federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)

This is a special loan for the most neediest of families. It’s available to parents and guardians of dependent undergraduate students, it has a variable interest rate. No CoSigner loans are not credit based student loan programs and are government sponsored loan programs. These differ from Private student loans are credit based and you must qualify based on your credit, in most cases with Private student loans a Co-Signer is required.
You could also try a federal grant for students is another free scholarship .

For the government loans makes sure you apply with your colleges and universities that you’re looking to go to.

NOTE: Remember to get in early as once all the grants are used up at the college of your choice you will have to wait until the following year to get a No CoSigner student loan.