ronmac13
Senior Member
Whats a good company to go with?
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Student loans
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whitetaco02
Senior Member
I use Nelnet. No complaints so far.
Ta-ton-ka chips
GONetwork Member
Check out Clark Howard's website, he had a lot to say about student loans the other day
Okay student Loans - absolutely stay away from at all costs. First of all unless you go into a profession (Doctor - Laywer - Dentist etc.) where you will have the opportunity to make decent money quickly you will almost never pay them off. I have known dozens over the years who work regular jobs, $30,000+ married with a couple of kids and owe tens of thousands of dollars of student loans and cannot even pay on them and are hounded like dogs about them.
Also you cannot bankrupt them or ever get away from them. I am 56 and know people who are still paying on student loans they got 35 years ago. Big trouble is if you pay on them for awhile and then become stuck in hard times and can't pay for awhile then the interest eats up all you have paid on them and you still end up owning the same amount when you can pay on them again.
Another situation - get the loans, find a nice job, marry and want to buy a house. Put on the application that you own $40,000 in student loans and see how fast "rejected" gets sstamped on it - also be frugal in making payments and see that on your credit report. If you get student loans just be prepared to rent for a long time.
Another, and this happened recently, a younger friend of mine dated a really nice girl for a couple of years, married and then she remembered to tell him about her student loans she never has paid on. Oops - now those loans are his loans as well.
Best to pay your way as you go through college even if it takes years than have the "student loan" noose around your neck for the rest of your life.
Also you cannot bankrupt them or ever get away from them. I am 56 and know people who are still paying on student loans they got 35 years ago. Big trouble is if you pay on them for awhile and then become stuck in hard times and can't pay for awhile then the interest eats up all you have paid on them and you still end up owning the same amount when you can pay on them again.
Another situation - get the loans, find a nice job, marry and want to buy a house. Put on the application that you own $40,000 in student loans and see how fast "rejected" gets sstamped on it - also be frugal in making payments and see that on your credit report. If you get student loans just be prepared to rent for a long time.
Another, and this happened recently, a younger friend of mine dated a really nice girl for a couple of years, married and then she remembered to tell him about her student loans she never has paid on. Oops - now those loans are his loans as well.
Best to pay your way as you go through college even if it takes years than have the "student loan" noose around your neck for the rest of your life.
Derek
Senior Member
avoid at all costs....work to pay your way thru school if possible....worst way to start out your adult life is in debt up to your eyeballs with student loans....
ronmac13
Senior Member
thanks for the advice
hey, not all student loans are bad... some of us can't make enough to pay for tuition as we go (like me) and i got federal student loans which carry a lower interest rate. current tuition prices for full time are around $2000 a semester now!!
stafford federal loans are available once you fill out your FAFSA ... check with the school you are going to and find out all the necessary requirements - some schools won't approve the use of federal loans if you're not making satisfactory academic progress. Check with your financial aid dept. and see who they might recommend as a lender. Apply for HOPE (if eligible) and the Pell Grant (which doesn't have to be repaid). Those also require the FAFSA to apply.
you MAY be able to get a better rate with a "personal" education loan if you've got good credit or a good co-signer. Derrick just got a $3000 loan through Suntrust's AES (american education something or other) at right around 6% .. deferred as long as you're in school + 6 months after.
my stafford loan is at 7.2% and i cant remember how long the pay off is .. but its a manageable $70/mon that i can pay MORE on any time i want.
i'm guessing you still have to put all your parent's info on it, you might not be eligible for pell as its based on income and your EFC (expected family contribution). Theres no away around it until you're 24 and 'independent' ... even if your parents aren't paying your bills.
shop around, but don't don't DON'T apply with too many places as it will LOWER your credit score and make things worse.
Check with your bank or credit union, if you've got a good history with them, they may be able to get you a better rate. -- i was approved for my vehicle loan by my credit union at an awesome rate for the little credit history i have.
lemme know if i can help anymore, been there, done that.
stafford federal loans are available once you fill out your FAFSA ... check with the school you are going to and find out all the necessary requirements - some schools won't approve the use of federal loans if you're not making satisfactory academic progress. Check with your financial aid dept. and see who they might recommend as a lender. Apply for HOPE (if eligible) and the Pell Grant (which doesn't have to be repaid). Those also require the FAFSA to apply.
you MAY be able to get a better rate with a "personal" education loan if you've got good credit or a good co-signer. Derrick just got a $3000 loan through Suntrust's AES (american education something or other) at right around 6% .. deferred as long as you're in school + 6 months after.
my stafford loan is at 7.2% and i cant remember how long the pay off is .. but its a manageable $70/mon that i can pay MORE on any time i want.
i'm guessing you still have to put all your parent's info on it, you might not be eligible for pell as its based on income and your EFC (expected family contribution). Theres no away around it until you're 24 and 'independent' ... even if your parents aren't paying your bills.
shop around, but don't don't DON'T apply with too many places as it will LOWER your credit score and make things worse.
Check with your bank or credit union, if you've got a good history with them, they may be able to get you a better rate. -- i was approved for my vehicle loan by my credit union at an awesome rate for the little credit history i have.
lemme know if i can help anymore, been there, done that.
The AmBASSaDEER
Senior Member
can you not get HOPE?
not everyone can get it .. and they've made it harder to get it back.
i used mine up from 2 years at a Tech. school and transferred to a regular university and didn't have enough to cover the entire degree. Lots of "if/ands/buts" that they don't tell you about as a student!!
BKA
Banned
Great advice!
Don't be fooled with that Stafford Loan... I graduated in December and the interested starting accruing in May at that 7.2% rate. 7.2% DAILY interest rate. They wanted about $100 for 120 something months
Thankfully I had the money and my loans were paid in full the next day.
I would highly suggest looking at a credit union or bank for a school loan.
HandgunHTR
Steelringin' Mod
Just another bit of advice. Make sure you look around and apply for every grant and scholarship available to you. You would be surprised at how many of them there are out there.
Don't be fooled with that Stafford Loan... I graduated in December and the interested starting accruing in May at that 7.2% rate. 7.2% DAILY interest rate. They wanted about $100 for 120 something months
Thankfully I had the money and my loans were paid in full the next day.
I would highly suggest looking at a credit union or bank for a school loan.
7.2% annual... i will have to pull out the paperwork, but i know its not DAILY ... that's outrageous.
i actually re-fi'ed through another company after i graduated and its no longer paid directly to the stafford whatever its called
whitetaco02
Senior Member
Darcy, I agree with you. I have school loans and I have no problems paying them back. If you are responsible, it can be done.
and someone shouldn't feel BAD about having to take them out.
No way i could work enough hours and pay for school right now. taking out a loan is OK so long as you use it ONLY for tuition. Don't fall into the "buy now pay later" stuff and you'll be fine.
we went through this in january when Derrick took out his first loan - he works 35+ hours a week (40+ during the summer), and goes to school, paying his own way.
Tuition at Southern Poly just went up to $1928 for 12 hours per semester starting this fall ... PLUS all the extra fees they throw in there PLUS books, supplies, etc etc.
Paying for gas to get to work and his bills, lets him put away half (if that) of his paycheck to savings for school... its going to be a stretch to save for fall/spring semester working full this summer... and he earns a good pay for a student within a good company.
Not everyone has parents to pay for school for them, so don't feel bad about being responsible and doing what you need to do to get things done.
Just don't do that borrow money on a student loan and get a new computer or whatever thing, thats not smart. Get what you need and thats IT.... Don't over do it because it DOES have to be paid back.
merc123
Senior Member
I'd go with the try to locate as many grants and scholarships as you can. Even a $500 one from Coke will help out.
Do a search on Google for scholarship search sites and can tell you what you can possibly qualify for. Do the leg work, and you won't have to pay anything. Much easier to start off like that then in debt.
My college was paid for, completely by a scholarship. If I hadn't, I would have paid $54,000 for my 4 years of school... How can I possibly pay that back in a few years?
Do a search on Google for scholarship search sites and can tell you what you can possibly qualify for. Do the leg work, and you won't have to pay anything. Much easier to start off like that then in debt.
My college was paid for, completely by a scholarship. If I hadn't, I would have paid $54,000 for my 4 years of school... How can I possibly pay that back in a few years?
There is lots of good advice posted already, so I don't have much to add. First, look for any grants possible. It is much easier now than it was pre-internet days when I went to school. There were some scholarships available for just about everything including being of Polish decent. Many of them are small, but every bit helps. I was fortunate enough my final year of undergraduate work to get a scholarship from the National Trappers Association/Furbearers Unlimited. It was only $500, but that bought my books and left some money for other stuff. Also, check to make sure you are getting all/any grants you are eligable for. This helped me out and cut my college education costs in half.
Working to pay up front is a great option, but means that you may have to put off going to school a little longer. Considering that many schools seem to be raising tuition costs 4-10% each year, the longer you put it off, the more it will cost. If you work full time while in school, it may be tough to find a job that pays more than minimum wage that will also work around your class schedule unless you already have something worked out. A key point to consider is that if you have to work so much that your GPA suffers from it, you might as well have invested your tuition in something else since your GPA will play a big part in getting a job with your new degree. In my opinion, this is the single biggest investment that a person will make in their life. If you invest wisely, it will open doors for all the investments that could be such as homeownership etc.
I had a subsidized Federal Stafford Loan which had a maximum interest rate of 8.00% compounded annually. I only had to pay back around $14,000 beginning in 2000. I also deferred it for 2 1/2 years while I was in graduate school so it built up some interest. However, the highest payments that I had to make were $129 (less than 5% of my monthly net income). Interest rates from 2004-2007 were around 4.5% and I was able to double up payment so it only took me about 5 years to pay it back instead of the 10 that the loan agreement stated.
The last bit of advice I can give is make sure you are going to the right school for the degree. By this, I mean don't go to an Ivy League school for an education degree. My sister wanted to go to a local/private school because it was close to home. However, she is paying about 2-3 times more than if she would have went to a state school where she could get the same degree. After one year she had more debt than I had in 5 years. If you are going to a university for an undergraduate degree, keep in mind that it is what you make of it. Many schools offer degrees, but its up to you to get the experience and go the extra mile that will make you marketable so why pay $50,000/year for a degree you can get for less.
Shop around and make sure to read the fine print.
Working to pay up front is a great option, but means that you may have to put off going to school a little longer. Considering that many schools seem to be raising tuition costs 4-10% each year, the longer you put it off, the more it will cost. If you work full time while in school, it may be tough to find a job that pays more than minimum wage that will also work around your class schedule unless you already have something worked out. A key point to consider is that if you have to work so much that your GPA suffers from it, you might as well have invested your tuition in something else since your GPA will play a big part in getting a job with your new degree. In my opinion, this is the single biggest investment that a person will make in their life. If you invest wisely, it will open doors for all the investments that could be such as homeownership etc.
I had a subsidized Federal Stafford Loan which had a maximum interest rate of 8.00% compounded annually. I only had to pay back around $14,000 beginning in 2000. I also deferred it for 2 1/2 years while I was in graduate school so it built up some interest. However, the highest payments that I had to make were $129 (less than 5% of my monthly net income). Interest rates from 2004-2007 were around 4.5% and I was able to double up payment so it only took me about 5 years to pay it back instead of the 10 that the loan agreement stated.
The last bit of advice I can give is make sure you are going to the right school for the degree. By this, I mean don't go to an Ivy League school for an education degree. My sister wanted to go to a local/private school because it was close to home. However, she is paying about 2-3 times more than if she would have went to a state school where she could get the same degree. After one year she had more debt than I had in 5 years. If you are going to a university for an undergraduate degree, keep in mind that it is what you make of it. Many schools offer degrees, but its up to you to get the experience and go the extra mile that will make you marketable so why pay $50,000/year for a degree you can get for less.
Shop around and make sure to read the fine print.
great advice!!!
also, in georgia, the "core" classes --your first two years-- are transferable to any university from another university. So you could start at a smaller school (and less expensive) and then transfer to where ever you wanted to finish your degree. But be careful because different schools have different core requirements depending on major/degree program.
tim1225agr
Senior Member
no problems here
I can not speak for any one else here and won't begin to,but my experience has been like Darcy's. My advice is to to make sure you live with in your means and never have a credit card that you can take to Bass Pro and make unnecessary purchases with. Nothing worse than to have student loan debt and then credit card debt on top of all that. Student loan debt is "good debt" because you are getting something in return. Your education will help you make more money in return help you pay those debts off. You need to take all advice that's been given and make it work for you. I think the idea of only using the loans to pay for tuition is a great piece of advice. That's what I did.
I can not speak for any one else here and won't begin to,but my experience has been like Darcy's. My advice is to to make sure you live with in your means and never have a credit card that you can take to Bass Pro and make unnecessary purchases with. Nothing worse than to have student loan debt and then credit card debt on top of all that. Student loan debt is "good debt" because you are getting something in return. Your education will help you make more money in return help you pay those debts off. You need to take all advice that's been given and make it work for you. I think the idea of only using the loans to pay for tuition is a great piece of advice. That's what I did.
heck, i just got my first "debit" card linked to my account about a year ago -- how do you buy something when you don't have money ? Credit cards just don't make sense to me!
