Students: What Do You Know About Your College Loans?
June 5th 2008 02:50
I remember my college days well. I had a lot of fun and I studied hard too. I don’t remember spending a lot of time paying attention to my Student Financial Aid Award letter each year though. There is one exception to that.
I was accepted to a private graduate school to get an M.A. in Creative Writing. It was my dream, since I love to write (obviously). I decided against going there after I received my financial aid package from that particular school. I was awarded a scholarship to cover part of the cost of that expensive private school, but there was still a big chunk left to cover.
Lucky me, they were going to offer me plenty of student loans to help out. There were guaranteed loans up to the maximum that they could award based on current guidelines, and the remainder would be covered through private student loans. So I carefully read through all of the details. Sure I’ve made my share of financial mistakes, but the more I read, the more I realized that going to that particular graduate school wasn’t going to happen for me.
Getting private loans means that the terms you are offered may not be nearly as good as those for a government-back guaranteed student loan. In many cases, you may be looking at the repayment period beginning 60-days after the funds are disbursed. As a student, I looked at that award letter and realized that there was no way I would be able to afford that repayment. So unfortunately, I did not get that degree.
I would recommend that any student out there carefully review the terms of those student loans you are offered, especially when they are not government-backed. You don’t want to start out you professional career so far in the hole that you can’t even figure out where to starting digging. You also don’t want to find yourself in a position where you need a full-time job before you can graduate just to make your student loan payment.
I was accepted to a private graduate school to get an M.A. in Creative Writing. It was my dream, since I love to write (obviously). I decided against going there after I received my financial aid package from that particular school. I was awarded a scholarship to cover part of the cost of that expensive private school, but there was still a big chunk left to cover.
Lucky me, they were going to offer me plenty of student loans to help out. There were guaranteed loans up to the maximum that they could award based on current guidelines, and the remainder would be covered through private student loans. So I carefully read through all of the details. Sure I’ve made my share of financial mistakes, but the more I read, the more I realized that going to that particular graduate school wasn’t going to happen for me.
Getting private loans means that the terms you are offered may not be nearly as good as those for a government-back guaranteed student loan. In many cases, you may be looking at the repayment period beginning 60-days after the funds are disbursed. As a student, I looked at that award letter and realized that there was no way I would be able to afford that repayment. So unfortunately, I did not get that degree.
I would recommend that any student out there carefully review the terms of those student loans you are offered, especially when they are not government-backed. You don’t want to start out you professional career so far in the hole that you can’t even figure out where to starting digging. You also don’t want to find yourself in a position where you need a full-time job before you can graduate just to make your student loan payment.
| 67 |
| Vote |
