Almost everyone who goes to school, especially a college will have to apply for a student loan. The costs of these schools have become so outrageous, that it is almost impossible for anyone to afford an education unless they are very rich. Thankfully, there are ways to get the money you need now, and that is through student loans. Keep reading to see how you can get approved for a student loan.
Know your grace periods so you don’t miss your first student loan payments after graduating college. Stafford loans typically give you six months before starting payments, but Perkins loans might go nine. Private loans are going to have repayment grace periods of their own choosing, so read the fine print for each particular loan.
Never ignore your student loans because that will not make them go away. If you are having a hard time paying the money back, call and speak to your lender about it. If your loan becomes past due for too long, the lender can have your wages garnished and/or have your tax refunds seized.
Keep good records on all of your student loans and stay on top of the status of each one. One easy way to do this is to log onto nslds.ed.gov. This is a website that keep s track of all student loans and can display all of your pertinent information to you. If you have some private loans, they will not be displayed. Regardless of how you keep track of your loans, do be sure to keep all of your original paperwork in a safe place.
Be sure you understand the terms of loan forgiveness. Some programs will forgive part or all of any federal student loans you may have taken out under certain circumstances. For example, if you are still in debt after ten years has passed and are working in a public service, nonprofit or government position, you may be eligible for certain loan forgiveness programs.
If you want to give yourself a head start when it comes to repaying your student loans, you should get a part-time job while you are in school. If you put this money into an interest-bearing savings account, you will have a good amount to give your lender once you complete school.
To make your student loan money stretch even farther, consider taking more credit hours. Generally, being a full-time student is seen as 9 to 12 hours per semester, but if you can squeeze in between 15 or 18, then you should be able to graduate sooner. This helps reduce the total of loans.
It can be hard to figure out how to get the money for school. A balance of grants, loans and work is usually necessary. When you work to put yourself through school, it is important not to overdo it and negatively affect your performance. Although the specter of paying back student loans may be daunting, it is usually better to borrow a little more and work a little less so you can focus on your school work.
In order to have your student loan paperwork go through as quickly as possible, make sure that you fill out your application accurately. If you give information that is incomplete or incorrect, it can delay the processing, which means that you could end up unable to begin a semester, putting you half a year behind.
After reading the above article you should be aware of the entire student loan process. You probably thought that it was impossible to attend school because you didn’t have the funds to do so. Don’t let that get you down, as you now know getting approved for a student loan is much simpler than you thought. Take the information from the article and use it to your advantage the next time you apply for a student loan.