I need advice on student loans. What is the best kind? How much should i take out and for how long, etc?

I have to put myself through college this year. I'm weary of loans because i don't want to get into debt but i don't think ill be able to pay for any other way.any information will be helpful because i'm completely lost. whats a credible bank? how much should i take out to start? When should i begin paying them back? Is there other ways to fund it so im not in debt?I need advice on student loans. What is the best kind? How much should i take out and for how long, etc?
Federal student loans are the best. Best interest rates, best deferment and forbearance policies, lowest fees and you don't need a cosigner or have to pass a credit check. Some federal loans are even subsidized by the federal government. (Meaning they pay the interest while you are in school, not you.)


Apply at http://fafsa.ed.gov





This is a good book about the different kinds and the interest rates. There is a very nice table on one of the pages.


Perkins loans are the best to get.I need advice on student loans. What is the best kind? How much should i take out and for how long, etc?
The college will get you with there own financial program, although they say it's the best, and tell you to stay with them so that you won't have any problems with grants ect.. its all just to get you to sign on the dotted line, next thing you know your paying anywherer from 6-14% each month and that adds up fast. Cant remember how long you have before the bill starts coming in. I suggest you let the bank withdrawl the amount each month, believe me, its hard to pay back, especially when your all finished. Please Please~ start looking for Free Gov Grants, lots of people forget, I was part time student and didn't qualify, but since no one ever applied, I got it! If you do end up with a loan, do it with a bank, it should be no more than 6%(Credit Union pref) as for the grants, find them in your local town, check with the Chambers cause they know of different culture %26amp; group meets; Lions Club, LULAC, Law offices like mine gives one out to the high school each year, my Credit Union does too..... Good Luck Hope this helped.
Here's a brief article on a few things to think about while you're in the planning stages. Hope it helps!
Keep in mind, there's good debt and there's bad debt. Your education is a good debt, it's an investment for your future. The best loans to get is the federal student loans like Stafford. Interest rates are low, and the loans are deferred while you're attending school.





Which bank you should take a loan from? I recommend consulting with your Financial Aid office, they know which is the best one for your school and academic degree.





How much? This is where it gets a little tricky. How well are you able to keep a monthly budget? You may consult with the FA to assist you on this. The other thing you may want to keep in mind, what degree are you going for? If you plan to open your own shop when you graduate, then I recommend to maximize your loans. Obtaining a commercial loan is much more difficult and interest rates are more expensive than student loans. Max out the loans and penny pinch everything. Put it in money market or CD's. Anything that's guaranteed while still making some interest to off-set the student loan interest. As a grad student, you should be able to set aside $50,000 which is enough seed money for many parts of the country to start your business. For the metro cities, that money is enough to help back up and get a SBA $100,000 commercial loan. You typically need $100,000-150,000 to start a business in NYC.





When you should pay back? Consult with FA. Stafford loans have a 6 month grace period upon graduation, dropped/stopped going to school, or you're enrolled for less credits than half-time student status. Some loans don't have any grace period and will seek 1st payment within 30 days.





Other means of funding is the popular work study. You get paid either minimum wage or little higher for jobs on campus but you also have the opportunity to study depending on which job. The best ones I recommend is the receptionist/monitor duty for study hall. All you do is study at your desk, and check in/out any student who enters/leaves study hall. Or library receptionist in one of the branch campus library which is also mostly studying. Avoid the main library, you won't have a chance to study. Consult with FA to learn more about work study. I also recommend consulting them to learn what other loans, grants, or aids are available to you. There are literally millions of loans, grants, and aids out there. Many of them go unused because people don't know about them. Your church, local business, or your town may have one.





Another inventive way which my nephew did while in med school, he setup and ran a popular website. Put advertisements on it and those ads bring in about $1,000/mo. You can try running some small side business out of your dorm/room/house that makes some money. What I did 40 years ago, I bought antique furniture for cheap in 50-100 mile radius in Upstate NY, and brought them down to NYC during break. Sold them for hundreds of dollars (thousands in today dollars). Now it's much easier today, you can do similar thing. Surf craigslist.org or a local classified, grab free items or heavily discounted items, and sell them on eBay.