College Financial Aid

Financial aid can help many families meet college costs. Every year millions of students apply for and receive financial aid. In fact, almost one-half of all students who go on for more education after high school receive financial aid of some kind.

There are three main types of financial assistance available to qualified students at the college level:

- Grants and Scholarships, Loans, and Work-Study.

After you graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment, you have a period of time before you have to begin repayment of your student loans.

This "grace period" will be six months for a Federal (FFEL) or Direct Stafford Loan.
Nine months for Federal Perkins Loans.

Grants and Scholarships
Grants and scholarships provide aid that does not have to be repaid. However, some require that recipients maintain certain grade levels or take certain courses.

CollegeLoans

College Loans are another type of financial aid and are available to both students and parents. Like a car loan or a mortgage for a house, an education loan must eventually be repaid. Often, payments do not begin until the student finishes school, and the interest rate on education loans is commonly lower than for other types of loans. For students with no established credit record, it is usually easier to get student loans than other kinds of loans. Lemon Laws in California

There are many different kinds of education loans. Before taking out any student loan, be sure to ask the following kinds of questions:

- What are the exact provisions of the loan?

- What is the interest rate?

- Exactly how much has to be paid in interest?

- What will the monthly payments be?

- When will the monthly payments begin?

- How long will the monthly payments last?

- What happens if you miss one of the monthly payments?

- Is there a grace period for paying back the loan?

In all cases, a loan taken to pay for a college education must be repaid, whether or not a student finishes school or gets a job after graduation. Failure to repay a student loan can ruin a student or parent's credit rating. This is an important reason to consider a college's graduation and job placement rates when you help your child choose a school.