The Secret To Us Department Of Education Loans
By Mark Kessler, Thu Dec 8th

If you have heard about any kind of Federal financial aid forstudents, you are already familiar with US Department ofEducation loans. The US Department of Education handles allgovernment aid for defraying the cost of attending college inAmerica, from grants to loans.

The first thing that you will need to do to apply for USDepartment of Education loans is to fill out a FAFSA, orFree Application for Federal Student Aid form. FAFSAforms compare the amount of money required to attend a specificcollege to the amount of money that can be expected to be paidby the family of the attendee. Any difference is the amount ofmoney eligible for student aid.

Qualifying for US Department of Education Loans US Department ofEducation loans have specific qualifications that an applicantmust meet to be eligible. The qualifications include USCitizenship (some non-citizens with social security numbers arealso eligible), financial need, possession of a valid SocialSecurity Number, and proof of eligibility for higher educationin the form of a high school diploma, General EducationDevelopment (GED) certificate, or similar. Furthermore,applicants for US Department of Education loans must be in goodfinancial, academic, and legal standing. In other words, theymust be registered with the Selective Service if required, theymust not have defaulted on a student loan in the past, they canhave no record of conviction on charges of sales or possessionof drugs, and they must maintain a certain grade point average(GPA) to continue to receive student loans from the Departmentof Education.

Types of US Department of Education Loans There are three mainpossibilities when considering US Department of Education loans:grants, which are monetary gifts, student loans, and work-studyprograms where the money for education is earned. Only in thecase of

student loans does the money need to be repaid. Mostfederal grants are based solely on financial need, and some aregiven on a first-come-first-served basis, so it is important toapply as early as possible.

Work-Study programs are not technically US Department ofEducation loans, but they are a federally mandated way toreceive financial aid to attend college. A number of work-studyhours are specified as part of the financial aid package. Theseusually involve jobs working with non-profit companies or oncampus, and pay a modest salary. The money earned can be usedfor college tuition.

True US Department of Education loans include the PerkinsLoan, the Stafford Loan, and the PLUS loan for parents.Perkins loans have a particularly low interest rate and can bepaid back over a time period of as long as 10 years. There are alimited number of Perkins Loans available to each school everyyear. The Stafford Loan has a higher interest rate than thePerkins loan, and doesn't necessarily offer a grace period aftergraduation. However, there are more Stafford loans offered bythe US Department of Education every year. Stafford loans areeven available to students who don't have a pressing financialneed. Stafford loans may be paid off over a period of as long asthirty years.

PLUS loans are the final type of US Department of Educationloans. They are offered to parents of undergraduates, asopposed to the students themselves. Payments on Federal PLUSloans start two months after the money is received, and canbe paid off over a ten-year term.

About the author:Mark Kessler's website offers a comprehensive free resource ofcollege financial aid. Don't even think about paying for schooluntil you've read this about Consolidating Student Loans, aswell as Alternative Student Loans, ACS, Bad Credit, and US Department ofEducation loans, including a variety student loanarticles.==> http:studentloans.seeking411.com