If a student wants to borrow money for school, she has two main options: a federal or government loan, or a private loan.
When a student gets a federally subsidised student loan, the federal government pays the interest to the bank while the student is in college or university and during the grace period the student is given.
There are a lot of federal direct student loan programmes from which to choose. Before you decide which type of federal direct student loan would be best for you, it's a good idea to talk to your parents and other people.
Most of the time, a federal loan is not enough to cover all of your costs. So, in addition to a federal loan, you would probably also need a private loan. You can use this money for any of your school needs.
It can be hard to get a federal loan. If you take out several federal loans with different due dates and payment amounts, it will be hard to manage your cash flow so that you can pay back these loans on time.
With federal loans, you have to start paying them back six months after you graduate or leave school, whichever comes first. This can put a big dent in your monthly budget, so it's important to plan and budget for it.
There are some tips that can make it easier to fill out an application for a federal student loan.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form is the first one you will need to fill out.
You need to be organised and gather all the information you will need to fill out the forms.
When applying for a federal government student loan, you should start as soon as possible. Don't wait until the last minute if you don't want your application to get lost in the usual avalanche of last-minute applications.
Make sure you give yourself enough time to fill out the forms. The application could take up to an hour to fill out.
When you put the money from your student loan into your budget, keep in mind that federal student loans have fees that are taken out of the loan amount, so you won't get the full loan amount.
