Stafford Federal Student Loans are federal sponsored loans available to undergraduates and grad students, offering low rates of interest, and deferred repayment until your course completes.
There are 2 types of Stafford Loan -
To apply for a Stafford Loan, you fill in a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Financial Aid), and send it to the relevant department at your school. Applications are normally accepted from the summer before school year, right through to spring. You can only apply for a loan for the current academic year, and will need to re-apply every year.
The school evaluates your loan request, and will inform you if your application is successful. Finally you’ll have to sign a promisory note, acknowledging your legal obligations to repay the loan, as the loan will not be cancelled if you drop out early, or fail to find employment after school.
Schools generally participate one of two types of Stafford Loans – FFEL Stafford Loans, where the lender is a bank or credit union, or Direct Stafford Loans, where the lender is the US Department of Education. Don’t worry which your school offers, as in general there’s no practical difference.You’ll be paid through the school. The money is first applied to tuition fees, room and board, and then you’ll receive remaining funds by check.
Best Finance’s ratings for Stafford Loans: Value 4 stars out of 5. Flexibility 4 stars out of 5.
Tags: college-finance, college-financing, college-loan, college-loans, fafsa, financial-support, stafford-loan, stafford-loans, student-finance, student-financing, student-loan, student-loans, student-school-loan
July 25, 2008 at 5:45 pm |
This article is somewhat helpful, definitely for the person looking for a brief overview on Stafford Loans, however, the best internet resource I found prior to accepting my first Stafford Loan award was at the site http://schoolloans.com/, which essentially detailed enough information about the topic for me to be convinced a Stafford Loan was the right choice for me. I think I even impressed my loan officer with how much information I knew on the topic from my research….I didn’t tell him it was from the one article.