What is the best student loan?
I got an email from a dad who was hoping to get the answer to that question. His son needs to borrow for the last year of college.
That was an easy question to answer. The best education loan available is the federal Stafford Loan. There are two types of Stafford loans: subsidized and unsubsidized. You can find out more about Stafford loans and why you should use federal student loans in this previous college blog post of mine:
4 Things You Need to Know About Federal Student Loans
Because we are about to embark on the college loan season for families, I’m providing links to previous posts that I’ve written about college loans. Unfortunately, many parents make poor choices when borrowing for college. For instance, lots of families turn to private student loans before they have exhausted their federal loan options.
Read the following education loan posts and you’re more likely to cut your college costs:
4 Big Changes in College Loans
Federal Student Loans: When Do I Apply
Best College Loan Advice: 9 Tips for Borrowing for College
Private Student Loans: 6 Tips To Picking the Right Loan
5 Things You Need to Know About Private Loans
How Much College Loan Debt is Too Much?
College Loans When Parents Need to Borrow
Lynn O’Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution and a new eBook, Shrinking the Cost of College. She also blogs for CBSMoneyWatch and US News. Follow her on Twitter.
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[...] on June 23, 2011 in Money, Student Loans var addthis_product = 'wpp-257'; var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};This is the time of year when colleges start sending their bills out to new and returning students. And that’s why this is also the time of year when parents and students begin inquiring about college loans. [...]
[...] 9. What is the Best Student Loan? [...]
[...] Kenneth O’Connor, director of student advocacy at cuStudentLoans.org, which is a source for private student loans. If you end up shopping for a private student loan, the best place will almost always be at a [...]
[...] on June 23, 2011 in Money, Student Loans var addthis_product = 'wpp-263'; var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true,"data_track_addressbar":false};if (typeof(addthis_share) == "undefined"){ addthis_share = [];}This is the time of year when colleges start sending their bills out to new and returning students. And that’s why this is also the time of year when parents and students begin inquiring about college loans. [...]
[...] but typically do — the federal unsubsidized Stafford Loan. Any student can qualify for the Stafford Loan (interest rate 6.8%) and it hardly should be used by aid packagers to reduce a family’s [...]