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Student Loan Programs are generally designed to offer a low interest rates and very flexible repayment terms than conventional car or home loans. But finding a low intrest student loan will require some serious work on your part.
Federal loans, federally guaranteed loans, private loans, parental loans – how do you find the one that’s right for you?

Federal Student Loan Programs

Your first stop should always be the federal student loan programs. Even if you don’t think you are eligible, it is worth completing the standard application form and submitting it just to see if there are grants or other types of loans you might be able to obtain. Also, most colleges and universities require you to complete the federal form because they use the information it contains to assess your eligibility for state aid as well as their own institutional programs.

During the late 1990′s and the early 2000′s the interest rates on federal student loans were at historic lows. The rates have since moved back up some, but they are still substantially lower than those available through conventional loans.

Alternative Student Loans

There are alternative sources of low interest student loans if you look around a bit. There are many lenders with special loan programs for student needs that are similar but not exactly the same as the more well-known federal student loan programs. Most private lenders offer interest rates that are lower for student loans than for conventional loans, but they are generally still a bit higher than the federal rates. Shop around with several lenders, comparing interest rates, terms and conditions, and repayment requirements.

Despite the slightly higher interest rates of alternative student loans, they are a good option for many people who don’t qualify for enough other aid to fully cover their college expenses. Before you commit to any loan make sure you carefully compare all of your options, looking at long term benefits as well as short term expediency.

When a student or parent sets out to obtain a loan and/or financing a college education there are a many different sources they can go to in order to acquire the funding necessary. However, there are two different categories of loans which are either federal loans or private loans.

As for federal funding for college, in many cases it is much easier to get the financing if you fit the criteria set in place. By far, one of the most popular federal student loans is the Stafford loan. There are two types of Stafford loans which are the federal family educational loan and the William D. Ford federal direct loan. The process of obtaining a Stafford loan is through the student filling out a federal student aid application, then once approved they will sign a promissory note on the loan.

The only real difference between the two types of Stafford loans is where the actual funding is coming from. For a direct loan, the funds are coming directly from the federal government as for a FFEL loan, the funding comes from either a bank, credit union or another participating lender in the program.

There are also a couple more that should be mentioned in this article and those are the Parent PLUS and Perkins loans. First, the Parent PLUS loan is designed for parents in need of assistance for paying their child’s college fees. This loan basically will fill in any gaps that the parent needs in order to cover all the college expenses fully.

The Perkins loan is basically a student loan which can be applied for at the college or university financial aid office which usually has a very low interest rat, but has a maximum loan amount of around $4,000 each year for students. They are federal fund and can be added to other types of funding. There are late fees and fees for skipping payments on the Perkins loan as well.

These loans and more can all be inquired upon at your selected college or university.

Credit history may not be as necessary if it is necessary at all in obtaining these types of funding options. As opposed to federal student loan funding, there are many private lenders willing to provide assistance for college funding as well. However, if you so decide to take the private lender route for financing a student loan, it is important to remember that most will need a bit of a credit history from the potential debtor and will most likely require a co-signer on the loan if the student with not much credit history at all is attempting to obtain the financing.

Federal funding for college students who need the financing, as well as parents is very available for anyone who has a need for such funding and it would be a good idea to look at all the options available in order to compare interest rates, fees, and more as these student loans will be around for a while after college as some loans will begin the payment schedule immediately during college like the Parent PLUS. Other repayment schedules will begin after 6 months for Stafford loans and 9 months for Perkins. So it would be a good idea to get all this information first hand before making any quick decisions about your college student loans.

Everyone knows that college is expensive and that rates only continue to rise. With no price breaks in sight, there are many different reasons that you might have to get a student loan. Even parents of students might have a hard time financing their child’s education since just one semester can actually cost up to thirty thousand dollars. So, most student and parents alike will have a hard time coming up with the money for college. Take into consideration the current state of the economy and you will realize that nearly everyone must get student loans for continuing their education. There are two types of student loans available. These include government or federal student loans and private student loans.

Since there has been such an increase in tuition and other expenses associated with college, private loans are becoming increasingly popular among students and parents alike. There are some subsidized and unsubsidized federal loans available for all students. These loans typically have a lower interest rate than private loans. However, there has not been an increase in some of these loans’ maximum amounts since 1992. This means that you actually might not be able to pay for all of your college costs with these loans. Therefore private student loans might be your only alternative.

There are many different things to consider when choosing private loans. Schools and loan companies alike push the Parent Plus Loans that are available. There are many reasons for this. One of these reasons is that parent’s typically have better credit, more of a credit history, and if their child is under the age of twenty three then there is a good chance that they are also claimed on their federal income taxes. On top of these things, the parents’ income is still being considered on the FAFSA (free application for federal student aid). Also parents might seem more reliable at paying back a loan and they typically start making payments immediately instead of waiting up to six months.

Some problems that might happen with private student loans are that you might have a hard time getting approved. This could happen if you have bad credit, little credit or no credit. These companies might actually require that you obtain a co-signor. The best way to find out is to go online and apply for their loan and then to await a decision as to whether or not you need a co-signor. Your co-sighnor’s credit will be taken into consideration as well. This is important for a number of reasons as you will want to make sure when you ask someone to co-sign that they are credit worthy.

With all things in mind you will want to consider all federal loan choices first. This means that you will apply for these loans and see what can be done prior to applying for your private student loans. You will take out the federal loans that are available as they offer better terms than most private loans. Then the advantage would be that there are many different private loans to choose from with many different lenders as well.

Like any form of consolidation a private student loan consolidation is when a borrower is allowed to combine multiple private loans under one single private lender at a new interest rate. This allows debtors to find payment relief by spreading the repayment over longer time duration and making the installments for the loan easier. Often it is possible for lenders to consolidate education related credit card debt into the loan but the debtor should have a good credit history or a reliable cosigner.


• The advantages of a private loan consolidation are:
• Lowers fixed rates and longer deferment time periods
• Single easy monthly payments rather than multiple payments
• Collateral not needed loan given against previous history
• No penalties on pre-payment


The advantages of loan consolidation cumulatively are more since multiple loans are easily consolidated into a single loan. A fixed interest rate then helps lower the monthly payments compared to a variable rate loan. Homeowners are allowed to retain the equity on their homes without taking out additional mortgages to repay previous debts.


A student who wants to opt for this must have completed at least 30 days of graduation and begin the loan application process in a expedient manner. The consolidator must be a US citizen and be 18 years of age. The must be fully disbursed within the time limit and their will be no penalties imposed. Private student loan consolidation allows the main burden of debt to be lifted from the students and/or parents shoulder and allow them to work and repay the single loan taken in a proactive manner.

Consolidating private student loans should be done separate from consolidating federal loans. Why? Simply because consolidating federal loans results to a lower interest rate. But even then, there are other options for you to take when you want to consolidate your private student loans.

Price is not an issue with private student loans. This just tells you that when you consolidate your loans, you are simply paying off all your past loans with a new, single, and larger loan. You might ask what benefit a new and larger loan will give you. Well, the most basic one is the fact that you only have a single monthly payment to worry about.

Aside from this, you can also lower down your monthly payments with the resetting of the term period of your new loan. Nevertheless, your lender can still profit from you through the total interest you pay throughout the loan period. But you can bring this to an equal footing if you learn to negotiate your interest rates. It is a fact that interest rates are dependent on your credit standing; therefore if you have improved your credit score over time, you are certainly eligible for a lower interest rate.

About 50 points of improvement in your credit score is required for you to avail of a lower interest rate. You can consolidate your student loans with another lender for a lower rate or choose to strike a deal with your current lender to reduce the rates on your loans. Your current lender will rather have you pay interest to them than to their competitor, so be sure to ask them first.

Another way you can repay your private education loans is to get a home equity loan. You use the money you get from your home equity loan to pay off all your loans in full. However, this is only applicable if you have a house with equity. When you do this, you are locking in the interest rate instead of having to deal with a variable rate that is very common with student loans.

In consolidating private student loans, don’t forget that you are doing business with a private company. Therefore, it is their rules that you follow. Be prepared to pay the interest rate they set for you as well as the additional fees they may have for processing your loan.

Don’t forget to separate consolidating your federal loans from your private student loans. There are a lot of advantages in consolidating your federal loans and lowered interest rates are just one of them.