The Student Loan People

Types of Aid

The major types of financial aid to help students pay for college or technical training include:

Grants: Awards that generally don’t have to be repaid and are usually based on financial need. These include the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, the Academic Competitiveness Grant and the SMART Grant. Eligibility is determined when your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is processed.
Scholarships: Awards that generally don’t have to be repaid and are usually based on skill, ability, talent or achievement. Many schools use the FAFSA to determine if you’re eligible for school-based scholarships. Click here to search for scholarships.
Work-study: Lets students earn money while working on or off campus. Contact your school counselor for more information.
Federal Student Loans: Money borrowed through federal programs; must be repaid with interest. These include Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Stafford Loans and Federal PLUS Loans.

You want to get as much as you can in grants, scholarships and work-study so you don’t have to borrow money to go to school. But the reality is that most students will have to take out loans to pay college costs.

Applying for Financial Aid

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the form used to apply for all federal and many state financial aid programs. In addition, many schools use the FAFSA to determine if you’re eligible for school-based scholarships.

The easiest way to submit the FAFSA is online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. You can do it completely online if you get a Personal Identification Number (PIN) at www.pin.ed.gov and use your PIN as an electronic signature. Or, you can fill out the FAFSA online, then print out the signature page and mail that in. Finally, you can fill out a paper FAFSA, which is available from college financial aid offices. The process is a lot quicker if you do it all online.

If you decide to take out a Federal Stafford or Federal PLUS Loan, you can also use your PIN to sign your Master Promissory Note (MPN) online. Remember to specify The Student Loan People, lender number 826688, on your MPN.

Entrance and exit counseling is required for all students who borrow a Federal Stafford Loan.

As of July 1, 2009, the interest rate on subsidized Stafford Loans for undergraduate students is 5.6%. The interest rate on unsubsidized Stafford Loans for undergraduate students is 6.8%. The interest rate on both subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford Loans for graduate students is 6.8%. The interest rate on a Graduate PLUS loan is 8.5%.

Updated: 6/29/2009