Often, the process of obtaining a student loan can be frightening. Typically, these feelings show up because of not knowing what they are headed for. To help reduce your fears, this article has some great suggestions to help you get started.
Know all of your loan’s details. You want to keep track of your balance, who your lender is and any current repayment status of your loans. These are three very important factors. You will also need to know these things if you want to have an accurate budget.
Make sure you stay in close contact with your lenders. Update them anytime you change your email, name, address, or phone number, which is common in college. Be certain you always open mail that comes from your lender, and that includes e-mail. Take any requested actions as soon as you can. Failing to miss any deadlines or regulations can mean risking losing quite a bit of money or time.
Attend to your private college financing in a timely manner. Though federal loans are common, competition in the market does exist. There’s much less competition for private student loans, with small pockets of money sitting around untapped from lack of attention. See if you can get loans for the books you need in college.
Implement a two-step system to repay the student loans. Begin by ensuring you can pay the minimum payments on each of your loans. Second, pay extra on the loan that has the highest interest. This will reduce how much money spent over time.
Grace Period
Know how much time you have in your grace period from the time you leave school until you must begin paying back your loans. Stafford loans have a grace period of six months. Others, like the Perkins Loan, allot you nine months. Other kinds of loans may have other grace periods. Know exactly the date you have to start making payments, and never be late.
You should try to pay off the largest loans first. If your principal is ower, you will save interest. Make a concerted effort to pay off all large loans more quickly. After you have paid off your largest loan, continue making those same payments on the next loan in line. The quickest way to pay down these loans is to tackle the largest one first, but keep making payments to the smaller ones in order to quickly pay down the entire debt.
Monthly loan payments after college can be very intimidating. Loan rewards programs soften the blow somewhat. Check out programs from Upromise such as SmarterBucks and LoanLink. These work like cash back programs, and the money you spend earns rewards that can be applied toward your loan.
To get more from student loan money, try taking as many credits as you can. To be considered a full-time student, you usually have to carry at least nine or 12 credits, but you can usually take as many as 18 credit each semester, which means that it takes less time for you to graduate. This lets you minimize the loan amounts you have to accrue.
Perkins Loan
The Perkins Loan and the Stafford Loan are both well known in college circles. These are both safe and affordable. This is a great deal that you may want to consider. Perkins loan interest rates are at 5 percent. On Stafford loans that are subsidized, the loan will be fixed and no larger than 6.8%.
This article has shown you don’t need to worry when it comes to student loans. You can get a loan (or loans!), and pay it back, without falling into crippling debt. Keep this advice in mind as you head out into the world!
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