Student Loans and Student Loan Consolidation
There are two basic categories of student loans available: government loans and private loans. In general, the government loans for students (also called Stafford Loans) should be your first stop. Parents should consider government loans for parents (also called PLUS Loans). Occasionally, private loans can be competitive with the government programs. Ask your financial aid administrator if your school is a "Direct Lending" school -- If so, you can get government loans directly without a third party lender.
Private or "alternative" loans require NO GOVERNMENT FORMS and can be a great solution if after receiving your government loans and grants, you still find a gap between your available funds and your costs.
Once you've finished going to school, consolidation loans and student consolidation loans can help lower your payment amount and combine multiple payments into one, easy to make payment.
Loans
A loan is a type of financial aid which must be repaid, normally with interest. Interest rates depend on the type of loan, the length of the loan and other relating factors. Loans are normally paid back over a set period of time where the borrower will be responsible for paying back a certain amount of the total debt each month.
