How to Fund your College Education Expenses
You have read the brochures, you have made your college choice, now comes the tough part of determining how you are going to pay for your college education. If you are like most students, you are not independently wealthy and so you start looking at student loan applications. This is the way that the vast majority of college students fund their college education. But there are multiple things to consider in this scenario which indicate that although this may be the easiest way to finance it, it may not be the best way, and you will not know that unless you have investigated the options.
A recent news article stated that most college financial aid offices maintain a list of preferred lenders. These are lenders who have worked out something with the college to make the loan application process and loan approval process as easy as possible, both for the student as well as the college accounting office. But this article encourages students to look beyond the list of preferred lenders that the college provides, since from a total and overall financial aspect, this may not be your best option.
One of the things stated in this article is that some of these lenders are so desperate to get on this preferred list that they add certain "sweeteners" to the college administrators in return for being put on this list. These sweeteners include things like stock options and all expense paid vacations to exotic destinations. While that is certainly not the norm, there is no way for you to determine which ones may have done this simply by looking at the list of potential lenders on the college's preferred list. The sad thing is that although these companies are on the preferred list via these tactics, that fact means nothing in terms of the value or expense of the loan they are providing.
Some of these lenders also offer incentives to choose them. For example, some offer a 1% reduction in the interest rate after 48 on-time payments, and others offer a 1% reduction in principal after 48 on-time payments. While that may sound good on the surface, you need to look at what this really means. In the first case, it is the same as lowering your interest rate by 0.33%, and in the second case, it is like lowering your overall interest rate by 0.12%. In other words, if you don't do the math, you will not realize that what they are offering is basically nothing.
Correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't the ideal way to finance your college education be a way where you got funding to pay for part of all of your tuition and/or books and/or housing expenses, and not have to pay it back, ever? That can be done, yet few students are aware of it or take advantage of it.
The method I am referring to is college scholarships. There are a truckload of college scholarships available for virtually any student. The student does not need to be an athletic superstar or musical protoge or have a squeaky clean GPA. In fact, many of these scholarships do not even require the student to have a financial need in order to qualify for it.
Even stranger is the fact that out of all the college scholarships available, a good number of them go unawarded each year simply because nobody applied for them! If the Tiddly Winks Foundation is willing to give you money for college, do you really care what the source of this funding is?
Investigate the avenue of college scholarships. The only thing it will cost you is the stamp and the time to fill out the application, which is time well invested.
Related Tags: student loan, college education, college scholarship, college grant, education financing
Jon is a computer engineer who maintain a variety of web sites based on his knowledge and experience. For more information about College Scholarships and College Grants, please visit his web site at Finding College Scholarships and College Grants.
Your Article Search Directory : Find in ArticlesRecent articles in this category:
- How Hypnotherapy Can be Used on Children
Today Hypnosis can be termed as a branch of medicine which is quite unique, whereas in the past this - Confidence Workshops For Children
Every parent wants their children to be confident, happy, highly motivated and enthusiastic in order - Inspiring Children Using NLP
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is one of the most successful therapies in psychology today. Init - Writing Term Papers
Students often tend to put off a written assignment, considering it to be a chore too formidable to - Naming In Term Paper
Give a descriptive name to each of your concept in the paper. Adhere using terms like "our approach" - Introduction Section of a Research Paper
Your introductions should not exceed more than two pages (typed, double spaced). See again the examp - Getting a Feedback of Your Term Paper is Important!
Get the feedback of your work! Finish your paper, having written it well in advance, so that you hav - The 1950's - Was Life Better?
Iconic TV shows like I Love Lucy, Dennis the Menace and My Three Sons seem to indicate that the 1950 - Online Classroom Systems Makes Home Schooling Even More Attractive
In the past it went without saying that you would send your kids to public schools. With public scho - 8 Helpful Tips For Surviving Military Basic Training
Getting through military basic training takes a lot perseverance. During this training it is best to
Most viewed articles in this category:
- Culinary Cooking Schools and What They Teach
Culinary cooking schools prepare you for a job in the culinary industry by providing you with the kn - How To Learn Spanish Quickly Without Moving To Spain
Learning Spanish is a popular pastime, as well as a serious goal for many individuals. Whether it's - How To Improve Your Life With An Accredited Online College Degree
With the information super highway raring full steam ahead, quality accredited online college degree - Online Bachelor Degree Programs Go Mainstream
The Internet has seen an explosion in online bachelor degree programs in the last five to ten years - Online Degree Program Just A Click Away
You want to go shopping, but your car is low on gas. You want to know your account balance, but do n - Online Paralegal Degree Will Open Doors
An online paralegal degree may offer the possibility of improving your chances in the legal professi - What West Point Military School Looks For In A Candidate
West Point is looking for well rounded young men and women who are good students, good athletes, and - The Importance of Effective Accounting Programs
In the past, small businesses like mom and pop stores were not required to maintain any sort of acco - California Schools Educators Retirement System And Lionstone Group Create Investment Fund
The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CSTRS) is the second largest public pension fund i - A Taste of China - Seattle Schools New Guest Teacher Shares Language and Culture of Her Native Hom
The Seattle schools have a new "guest" teacher. Zhu Dan arrived in the Seattle schools in January