Graduate school loans

Graduate school loans are a lot easier to arrange for these days. The cheapest are available from the federal government, but you have to meet some eligibility criteria to have access to them.

- You should be an American citizen or permanent resident.
- You should not have defaulted on previous student loans.
- You should be enrolled with a school accredited by a federally approved agency.

Thanks to these simple conditions, numerous students now have access to cheaper graduate school loans. The first thing to do is fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) available with the U.S. Department of Education. Students no longer have to go through credit unions, lenders and banks to have access to federal loans. These can be obtained from the Department of Education through all college financial aid officers.

Here are the major types of federal graduate student loans.

PERKINS LOANS are available for students with the lowest income. Qualifying graduate students can get up to $8,000 per year with a 5% interest rate. While the student is in school, the government does not charge any interest rate. These graduate school loans are available even for people with bad credit, as long as they haven't defaulted on previous federal educational loans.

SUBSIDIZED STAFFORD LOANS are not as cheap as Perkins loans, yet, still very convenient. These graduate school loans are awarded only to those applicants who need help paying for tuition according to the student's FAFSA. The interest rate for Stafford loans is of 6.8%, with no more than 1% in fees. No interest rate is charged throughout the education period.

UNSUBSIDIZED STAFFORD LOANS are available to almost any applicant, regardless of income. The only difference from the subsidized graduate school loans lies in the interest continuing to accrue during the student's education period. If the students are enrolled at least half time, they don't have to make any payment throughout college. The problem with these loans is that the amount owed by graduation is pretty high.

The GRAD PLUS program is another option for graduate school loans when the student has maxed out Perkins and Stafford loans. The credit check is a necessary part of the PLUS application. You won't qualify for a PLUS loan if you have defaulted on student loans, if you have bad credit or in case you have filed for bankruptcy recently. Otherwise, the college you are enrolled with does not matter for loan approval.

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