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Student Loans

With the rising cost to attend college, and the recent cuts in government funding, many students currently in college or about to attend have a big decision to make. They must decide how they will fund their college tuition and books if they are not awarded enough scholarships or grants.

For some, student loans represent a necessary "evil".

Continue reading "Student Loans - What They Are and Why You May Need Them" »

Posted by CandiceArnold on January 21, 2008 at 1:15 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

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With the cost of higher education on the rise across the United States, and Federal assistance rates not rising to match, the question of where to get money for college has become a very real concern for many students in the 18-23 age bracket, the bracket which is still required to claim Mom and Dad's income on their financial aid applications.

Continue reading "The World of Private Student Loans" »

Posted by CandiceArnold on January 14, 2008 at 12:29 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

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If you are considering going to a college and money is a problem you may be eligible to apply for financial help. You can apply to get free or inexpensive money to help you get that college education.

Continue reading "How to Apply for Scholarships, Grants and Student Loans" »

Posted by CandiceArnold on December 7, 2007 at 2:49 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

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College Loans Often Do Not Have to Be Paid Back Until After You Graduate, so You Can Hold Off on Paying for Your Education Until Your Education Starts Paying Off with a Great Job.
Make Your Education a Reality

College is expensive. If you are looking to attend a college or university, then you may also need to look into your college loan options.

Continue reading "Paying for College: Getting a College Loan" »

Posted by CandiceArnold on September 21, 2007 at 4:56 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Find Out If You Qualify to Get Your College Education Subsidized by the Government
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Start getting ready for college while you are still in high school, towards the end of 11th or the beginning of 12th grade. The URL (web address) is: www.fafsa.ed.gov. FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and is a must for any student looking to get financial aid for college.

Continue reading "Paying Your College Expenses" »

Posted by CandiceArnold on September 20, 2007 at 2:05 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Are you ready to take your education to the next level? If so, graduate school is probably the next big step in your future. Grad school is an enormous commitment, but the rewards are just as tremendous. There are many reasons people choose to go back to school to get a graduate degree. For some, the lure of increased knowledge is enough. For others, the opportunity for personal fulfillment, career mobility and increased finances draw them back to academia. According to recent surveys done by the National Center for Education Statistics, Americans with a graduate degree earn an average of 35% to 50% more than those with only a bachelor's degree. Sounds great, right? But you're probably wondering how you can afford another degree. Don't let tuition be an obstacle to achieving your goal. There are a variety of government and private loans, as well as scholarships available to help you finance your education. Read on to discover some of the best ways to fund your graduate schooling.

Continue reading "Dollars for Grad School" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on August 23, 2007 at 11:30 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

By Don Rauf

Student loans can be a great financial tool—if you handle them the right way.

Waiting tables and working for a surveying firm helped David Hilmer attend college at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. But while the money he saved was a good start, it wasn’t enough. “After about a year and a half, I was scrambling—wondering how I was going to cover my dorm expenses and tuition,’’ he recalls.

Now working in Connecticut as a senior account executive for a computer consulting firm, Hilmer looks back and says that student loans (a federal Perkins, Stafford, and a university loan) enabled him to graduate.

With the cost of a college education escalating every year, students are relying more than ever on loans to help make ends meet. Two-thirds of undergraduate students graduate with some debt, according to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics and the U.S. Department of Education.

Continue reading "Financing Your Education: The Lowdown on Loans" »

Posted by Sarah Ennenga on July 9, 2007 at 2:12 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

With the rising cost of education, many students rely on loans to help finance their education. While student loans are a good option for those in need of financial assistance, it can also create an overwhelming amount of debt.

After graduation, students not only face the pressure of finding the perfect job, they also begin to fully realize the financial burden of their student loans. Regardless of whether or not they finish their education or find a job after college, their loans must be repaid.

Continue reading "How to Avoid Debt After Graduation" »

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on June 6, 2007 at 11:19 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

It is always nice to see your clients doing well so I was thrilled to learn that Paul Simino is a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® 2007 Award in the Florida region. Paul is President & CEO of OneSimpleLoan®, a national student loan finance and consulting firm specializing in student loan consolidation.

According to Ernst & Young, the awards program was designed to recognize outstanding entrepreneurs on a regional, national and global level who are building and leading dynamic, growing businesses. Paul was selected as a finalist from nearly 100 nominations by a panel of independent judges. Award winners will be announced at a special gala event on June 21, 2007 at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando.

In the four years since Paul founded OneSimpleLoan in 2003, the firm has grown from less than a dozen to more than 170+ employees and along the way has helped thousands of college students better manage their Federal student loan debt through consolidation.

Paul, the entire staff of CollegeRecruiter.com congratulates you on your remarkable success and wishes you and your team all the best. Kudos!

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on June 4, 2007 at 5:30 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

As seen in the news lately, student loans have a huge impact on young people’s lives. Finding the right loan or consolidation plan while being targeted by multiple lenders, not all of them honest, can lead even straight-A students to throw up their hands in confusion. A recent survey revealed that less than 15% of graduate professional students could identify the best loan for their financial needs. This is statistically worse than a random guess, and is at the heart of the need for transparency, analytical tools and a way for students to make real comparisons.

Continue reading "How to Find the Right Student Loan Consolidation Plan" »

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on April 13, 2007 at 4:19 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Looking for a way to pay for your college education? Stafford Student Loans are the most widely sought after education loans sponsored by the federal government because they're a great, low-cost way for you to obtain the extra aid you need in order to meet college expenses.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on November 17, 2006 at 8:59 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Hey gang, it's been a few days, owing to a few technical issues here and there, but no worries, we're back in the game. Here's what you missed over the past couple of days:

1. Student loan consolidation controversy! It seems that some lenders are using delaying tactics to avoid releasing student loans to consolidation companies, like returning payoff statements with chewing gum stuck to them or with nothing on the statement except a coffee stain. The tactics are ethically questionable, but technically NOT illegal. Has this happened to you? Let me know - leave a message in the comments or email financialaidpodcast at gmail dot com.

2. On Tuesday's show we talked about money saving tips for college students. Among the tips: joining a credit union can potentially save you hundreds of dollars in pointless fees from major banks, and chances are your school has a credit union. Ask if students are eligible to enroll. Find a credit union near you with the NCUA finder! Other tips include actually showing up at class, because you're paying a hefty amount per hour.

3. Yesterday we touched on what warning signs often come with a scholarship scam. Among them - receiving unsolicited offers of scholarships, sites that have no WHOIS registration information, ANYONE asking you to pay money for a scholarship, and scholarship ID theft schemes where they ask you for sensitive information like your SSN or date of birth.

4. In today's show we answer listener questions, including whether you can get a student loan as a non-traditional student for child care and other related expenses. The answer? Yes, you can. Private student loans can be used for anything up to the cost of education, and that includes child care, food, living expenses, rent, even babysitting.

It's good to be back!

Check it out at:
The Financial Aid Podcast Web Site

If you have iTunes, visit:
FinancialAidPodcast.com/itunes

As always, please contact me with any feedback, either here, on the show, or on the phone.

Posted by FinancialAidPodcast.com on September 7, 2006 at 7:11 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Figuring out what you can borrow for student loans can be tricky, particularly if you're still in school, or not even to college yet. Choose right, and you'll be able to enjoy a comfortable standard of living after college, pursuing the life path you want. Choose wrong, and you get crushed by debt, or you don't go to/finish college. How do you determine what is a reasonable amount to borrow?

Work in reverse. Debt has to be paid off, so figure out how much debt is sustainable. Most financial planners advocate not exceeding 10% of your net income for debt service, so that's a good number to remember. What you can pay is of course dependent on how much money you make.

Statistically, college graduates average a starting salary around $30,000 per year. This is highly dependent on where you live, the cost of living, etc., but $30K for liberal arts, up to $50K in medical and technology fields seem to be about the national norms.

Let's work backwards now. From gross pay, we're going to write of 1/3 of the salary to taxes and mandatory deductions (social security, etc.). Yup. Uncle Sam takes that much. Here's the result, your NET income after taxes:

$30K gross: $20,000 net
$40K gross: $26,700 net
$50K gross: $33,300 net

Now, divide each by 12 and you get your net monthly income.

$30K gross: $20,000 net = $1,666/month
$40K gross: $26,700 net = $2,225/month
$50K gross: $33,300 net = $2,775/month

Okay. Now, let's assume you are free and clear of all other debts (credit card, auto, etc.) at the time of graduation and you just have student loans. You can now afford to make the following maximum payments at a 10% debt service to net income ratio:

$30K gross: $20,000 net = $1,666/month = $166/month
$40K gross: $26,700 net = $2,225/month = $223/month
$50K gross: $33,300 net = $2,775/month = $276/month

Today's federal student loan interest rates are 6.8% for Stafford Federal Student Loans. Based on this, we can use a student loan consolidation calculator in reverse to see the maximum amount of money you can borrow at 6.8% with and without consolidating your federal student loans.

$166/month = $14,424 if you don't consolidate, $18,700 if you consolidate
$223/month = $19,378 if you don't consolidate, $29,213 if you consolidate
$276/month = $23,983 if you don't consolidate, $39,765 if you consolidate

The higher your estimated income at graduation is, the more you can afford to borrow, and if you consolidate your federal student loans upon graduation, you will be able to borrow more. This is a pretty good methodology for figuring out how much you can afford to borrow - and a good example of how overborrowing can limit your career choices to jobs that can pay for your student loans.

For more information about student loan consolidation, visit StudentLoanConsolidator.com on the web.

Posted by FinancialAidPodcast.com on August 29, 2006 at 1:18 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Today's show answers listener questions and has followups about using federal student loans to pay off private student loans.

Kimberly writes: Yes, the federal loan can replace the private loan, and in most cases, aid administrators would reduce the private loan if adding the federal loan made the student have an overaward. We have one student who does this every year, but our costs are so high that she doesn't totally pay off the private loan. She does end up with a smaller private loan at the end of the year since her federal aid covers some of what the initial private loan covered. It all depends on the cost of attendance, the student's grade level and the directly billed costs. Make sense?

Gerrie writes: Usually the alt loan has to be taken into account in the cost of attendance. However if the cost of attendance is high enough that the student can take out the max Stafford as well as the amount of alt loan already borrowed, what that student does with the funds disbursed to him or her is up to them. As long as the student has maintained enrollment, you can retroactively award fall (taking into account the alt loan as a resource). However, if the COA is low enough it's possible that the earlier alt loan could impact the total Stafford borrowed.

Check it out at:
The Financial Aid Podcast Web Site

If you have iTunes, visit:
FinancialAidPodcast.com/itunes

As always, please contact me with any feedback, either here, on the show, or on the phone.

Posted by FinancialAidPodcast.com on August 16, 2006 at 8:03 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

There's been a lot of controversy recently about private student loans and their role in the financial aid process. Charlie Miller's Commission on the Future of HIgher Education recommende scrapping federal student loans like the Stafford Loan in favor of private student loans. The Project on Student Debt says he's headed 180 degrees in the wrong direction. In today's show, I talk about:

+ What a private student loan is
+ Where to get one
+ When to get one
+ When NOT to get one

The short version: private student loans are ideal for bridging the gap between what aid you've received and what's left to pay for. They're not a good first resort simply because their rates are higher than federal student loans at the moment, and certainly they're much less appealing than scholarships and grants.

Private student loans come into play if you don't qualify for federal financial aid, or the aid you get isn't enough. Line up as many scholarships as you can, get as much grant aid as you can via the FAFSA, get your federal loans, and then get private loans.

Check it out at:
The Financial Aid Podcast Web Site

If you have iTunes, visit:
FinancialAidPodcast.com/itunes

As always, please contact me with any feedback, either here, on the show, or on the phone.

Posted by FinancialAidPodcast.com on August 10, 2006 at 8:41 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I talked yesterday with an LJ Blogger whose private student loan had been turned down, and she was inquiring what to do, who to apply with next. Before she did, I made some recommendations that are vitally important.

First - find out WHY you were declined before you do anything else. Remember - applying for a loan, any kind of loan, takes a bite out of your credit score. The more loans you apply for, the lower your credit gets. Why? Because it's assumed in the FICO formula that the more loans you apply for, the more desperate you must be - and therefore, a higher risk. Higher risk = lower credit score.

In this case, the borrower's cosigner, her grandfather, was the reason for the decline. Read more...

Continue reading "What to do if your student loan is declined" »

Posted by FinancialAidPodcast.com on August 8, 2006 at 7:21 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I've been talking today with a listener about credit-based private student loans, like the ones at AlternativeStudentLoan.com, and reminded her that every time you apply for a loan somewhere and you're declined, it's a ding against your credit rating. Make sure you've got your house in order first - all your information gathered, a cosigner who is credit-worthy, etc. before you apply, so that you maximize your chances of qualifying for the loan. If you don't, then each successive loan application is less likely to be approved because your credit score is declining.

If you haven't already, be absolutely certain your credit is clean with a free report from www.AnnualCreditReport.com (ignore all the ads).

Posted by FinancialAidPodcast.com on August 7, 2006 at 2:33 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Yesterday's podcast was an interview with Raza Khan from My Rich Uncle - and his take on the provocative, controversial ad campaign his company is currently running.

Check it out at:
The Financial Aid Podcast Web Site

If you have iTunes, visit:
FinancialAidPodcast.com/itunes

As always, please contact me with any feedback, either here, on the show, or on the phone.

Posted by FinancialAidPodcast.com on August 4, 2006 at 8:11 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

A recent article in the New York Times highlighted what many students already knew - that not only was college getting more expensive, but the amount of federal aid available to students is not keeping up with rising education costs

A revision and update to the EFC, or Expected Family Contribution, formula for the 2005-2006 school year translates into an increase in what families have to pay before federal aid can kick in. In the New York Times study (June 6, 2005), the average amount of additional money that families must come up with is $1,749 per year, with some families experiencing increases between $6,000 - $7,000.

Why is the shift of the financial burden moving increasingly towards families? Part of the overall formula for determining federal financial aid is the rate of inflation - as inflation increases, the number of dollars that a family has would be expected to increase.

For example, a family with a household income of $50,000 in the year 2000 would be expected, based on a 3% inflation rate year over year, to have an income of $57,964. in 2005. By that assumption, the family would have more money to spend on education, and therefore federal aid could be reduced.

However, there is a flaw in the formula used to compute federal financial aid, and that flaw is this: the projected rate of inflation which the formula is based on does not necessarily reflect the actual rate of inflation. As a result, the formula assumes people make more money - in some cases, much more - than they actually do.

What is the solution for the increased gap between federal aid and the actual cost of education? Private student loans, such as the Act Education Loan from the Student Loan Network, can help to bridge the gap between federal aid, the actual cost of education, and expected family contribution. Loans such as the Act Education Loan are independent of federal financial aid computations, and are based on the creditworthiness of the borrower, rather than need-based formulas.

Source: ActEducationLoans.com

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on July 21, 2006 at 2:12 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

The single biggest factor that impacts the amount of interest you pay is your credit score. People with credit scores over 750 pay a lot less interest than people with scores of lower than 650. If you can increase your credit score by 100 points, you can pay less interest, pay more principle and get out of debt more quickly. Credit score is a huge factor in who gets richer and who gets poorer in this country.

The little known secret about credit scores.

Continue reading "Student Loan Secrets: Improve Your Credit Score and Pay Off Your Student Loans" »

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on June 23, 2006 at 6:23 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Two American education loan borrowers and an education loan finance company (OneSimpleLoan of Oldsmar, FL) filed suit on April 18, 2006 in U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York against the U.S. Department of Education. The suit resulted because of a little known provision in the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005, that will on July 1, 2006, terminate the right of middle class Americans to refinance their consolidation loan debts under the Federal Family Education Loan Program, made even worse by the unpublicized and obscurely worded letter of the U.S. Department of Education that terminated those rights three months earlier by bureaucratic fiat.

Continue reading "Will A Lawsuit Resuscitate Reconsolidation of Student Loans? We Can Only Hope So..." »

Posted by OneSimpleLoan on May 19, 2006 at 4:55 PM | Leave a Comment (1)

Tonight's '60 Minutes' (CBS network) will explore Sallie Mae's clout in the student loan industry. Per the '60 Minutes' web site: "Making government-backed loans to college students has become so lucrative for the Sallie Mae Corporation that its stock has skyrocketed 2,000 percent in the last decade. But some students are left swimming in growing debt. Lesley Stahl reports."

Should be interesting viewing!

Posted by OneSimpleLoan on May 7, 2006 at 5:04 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Next to being born into a wealthy family, Stafford Loans are the most widely sought after education loans sponsored by the federal government. Why? Well, it sure isn't because they're incredibly exciting. Rather, it is because they're a great, low-cost way for you to obtain the extra aid you need in order to meet college expenses. Federal Stafford Loans are an affordable lending alternative to other high-interest financing options that are available.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on April 17, 2006 at 4:21 PM | Leave a Comment (0)