Student Loans: Start w/ State & Nonprofit Loans!
06/20/2022
Typically you will see that most college planners will say to take the Federal Loans first (since they are really the only loans just in the student's name), but then many seem to just go to their Parent Plus or bank/credit union or Citizens/Discover for (typically) expensive loans for the rest.
After the student takes the guaranteed Federal Loans, before you do anything else,
- Find out if your state has a student loan program:
- It may even be subsidized depending on your EFC - check this website
- See if the state your student's school is in has a state loan program:
- (same website as above) for example, in NJ, eligible students :"Be a New Jersey resident attending an approved school (in or out-of-state) or an out-of-state resident enrolled in an approved NJ-based school."
- Find non profits that offer student loans:
- go to the Education Finance Council website, scroll down & click on "Find a Nonprofit Loan here"
- MEFA is one example of a nonprofit student loan lender. You do NOT need to have a Massachusetts connection to get a loan from MEFA.
After you research all the state and nonprofit loan options, then look at the banks etc. You should be able to enter in some basic info into Credible and get a few options/rates back.
AND check to see if your state has any student loan forgiveness programs for certain degrees - check here
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