Saturday, October 31, 2009

Loans for College Students

By Pauline Davies

Let's suppose that you have a teenager who will shortly be leaving high school. You will be proud naturally, just like any other parent. whose child is passing out high school. It is one of those milestones of life that they have successfully passed, in spite of all the financial obstacles that you have probably had to deal with. It is time to be happy, for you have fulfilled your role of giving your child a better future.

But as most would say, a high school graduation is not the be all and end all. In deed, it is just the beginning of tougher challenges that await you and your child in the following years of college education.

At this point, you should start thinking about how you will pay for the studies of your college-bound teenager. With the increasing cost of tuition fees, you need to plan ahead well of time to avoid any problems, especially if you not well-off. You probably already know how hard it is to have to deal with the increasing costs of your child's high school education before. The sooner you start planning for the college education of your child, the less you will encounter financial problems afterwards.

If you honestly think you might be faced with financial problems again, it is important that you know the various financial aid programs available for your college-bound teen. Just keep reading in order to find out about the financial aids that are available to you:

A Grant: it is the first kind of college financial aid that you should try for. It just requires you to complete a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) application form. Once the form has been sent, it will be evaluated and if your child qualifies, he/she will be entitled to the full amount of what he/she has applied for. At this moment, you need not do anything much more except provide the name of the college or university that your child wants to go to.

Scholarships: In spite of te fact that scholarships are mostly meant for students who have the 'brains' but not the 'money', not all college scholarships are intended for academics. Students who do not have the best of academic records can still qualify for many other college scholarships. There are college sports scholarships, community service work scholarships, social involvement scholarships and many others. These are only a couple of the different types of scholarships for your child if he / she is not that academically talented.

'Student Loans': these kinds of loan have much lower interest rates compared with other types of loan. Some loans are off-set, which means that the interest does not accumulate until a student graduates college. Moreover, these loans do not require collateral, and therefore, you do not have to worry about putting your own home up as collateral against the student loan for your child. Most of these loans are available on various repayment plans at low interest rates and low monthly installment payments.

If you haven't yet begun looking for any of the different financial aid programs available on the market, it is advisable that you begin now. This financial assistance is there to help you and will provide the funds needed for your child's college education. You can be free from worries about the cost of your teen's education, if you start early enough.

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