Please, don’t tell me not to. Or to just try scholarships. I truly believe in my heart my career plans will pay off and I’ll be able to have a good launch point at this school.
Just tell me how to go about this process. I have no clue, and my family and school officials haven’t been able to help me at all.
Anything like what to look for and where would be amazing. Thank you.
How do you actually look take out loans for college
byu/No_Read_1199 inStudentLoans
Posted by No_Read_1199
4 Comments
Start with FAFSA if you haven’t already – that’s your gateway to federal loans which have way better terms than private ones. After that you’ll probably need to look at private lenders, just make sure you understand the interest rates and repayment options before signing anything 💀
Most people end up needing a cosigner for private loans unless you have solid credit history already, so keep that in mind when you’re shopping around
There’s different kinds of student loans. First is federal loans, and these are broken into two categories: Direct Loans, and Direct Plus loans. Direct Loans are based on your FAFSA. They can be subsidized (do not gain interest while on school) or unsubsidized ( do gain interest while in school). For a dependent freshman, the maximum you would be able to get is 5,500, with 3,500 of that possibly being subsidized. If you’re an independent, it would be 9,500, still with 3,500 possible being subsidized. It goes up each year you are on school. There are lifetime limits, and it will be prorated if you are less than full time, etc. This is a very quick overview.
For Plus loans, if you are an independent undergrad student, you can’t get them. There are two types, Parent Plus loans and Grad Plus loans. Parent Plus are only for dependent students, and the loans are 100% in your parent’s name, not yours. You have 0% responsibility for them. Starting July 1st, they cap at $20,000 per year, and have a lifetime maximum of $65,000. Grad Plus are actually going away July 1st, so if you haven’t gotten a loan by then, you can’t get them.
After that, there’s only private loans. Your school may have a preferred lender list. I would talk to your schools financial aid office about them.
I know you said not to try to convince you not to take them, but I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention only to take out what you absolutely need after work, savings, etc. And to also make a good decision about what school you go to. If you go to an expensive one, you may regret it (and I kid you not) your entire life. I would never advice my kids to take out student loans, especially private ones, because I’ve seen them absolutely destroy so many people. I hope you’re the exception, but all the ones I’ve seen it destroy thought they were exceptions too. There are some success stories, but far more who never are able to get out of the hole. I don’t know anything about you, and maybe you’ve done a great amount of research, but really think about it, do the math, and realistically think about the rest of your life.
Contact your school’s Financial Aid office. They are best suited to go over the ins and outs of your Aid eligibility taking into account your school, program, COA, SAI, dependency status, etc.
Fill out your FAFSA. Sign up for school. Accept school loans when the college financial aid office tells you to.