It is very difficult for students to be approved for a private student loan on their own. As such, if you are a student borrower, without an established credit history and a current, steady income: You WILL need a co-signer for a private student loan. Your co-signer must have “good” to “excellent” credit and an [...]

As a federal student loan borrower, you have the right to know all of the particulars about your student loans — specifics on when you will start to pay it, who owns your loans, options during repayment, and much more. Naturally, by borrowing money and agreeing to pay it back, you are also bound by [...]

Prime rate, LIBOR, Interest rate, and APR are all terms used frequently in the financial industry but what do they all mean?  Knowing this information will help you become a more informed borrower.  Understanding the difference between an interest rate and APR will allow you to make an informed decision that will save you money [...]

Completing Exit Counseling for a Student Loan When you are getting ready to leave college, your financial aid office will send you a notice that you are required to complete exit counseling for your federal (Perkins, Stafford and Graduate PLUS) student loans. Failure to do so could mean that your college will place a hold [...]

Student lenders often offer incentives to make their loan products stand out from the crowd. The industry calls these borrower benefits but they may also be called borrower rewards or incentives. While they can often save you lots of money over the life of a loan, you should consider them carefully to see if they will [...]

Determine the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Toward College Costs As a parent, how much you are expected to contribute toward your child’s college education is determined by the federal government based on information you provide in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In the application process, you are asked to provide information regarding [...]

Your goal should be to minimize your overall borrowing – and here is how. Grab a pencil, a calculator, the financial aid award information from your school, and follow these steps to run the numbers: What are your total college expenses? Check your award letter for the “total cost of attendance.” This will usually include [...]

While you are in school, a student loan might not seem like such a big deal, but once you are out in the real world, struggling to keep a job, an apartment and stay reasonably well-fed, those monthly payments can become an issue real fast! Here are a few ideas to help you make the [...]