4/24/12

PART 1
Current and former college students are falling behind big time.  Not in life, but financially.  This is not because they cannot get a job or are spending too much.  It is because they have too much to pay back in studetns loans.  Two words that haunt college students throughout life.  Ms. Ramine has loans that add up to $79,000 but by the time she pays them back over the course of 25 years, she will have actually have paid $211,000 due to intrest rates although she is still making her payments on time.  Students all over the country are going through such things and this is causing most of them to hold off future plans such as weddings, children, and even vist family that live far away. 

Students are taking college loans beacuse they are confused and have no idea what they are doing.  At the time they apply for loans, it all sounds like a great deal and something that should be able to pay back in no time.  But actually, they are wrong.  By applying for loans you are securing yourself in debt for years and years to come. 

The difference between a government student loan and a private student loan is that a government student loan is money that ithe government gives you that you don't have to pay back.  Some examples are scholarships and grants.  However, a private loan is where you go to a private company, and they give you a loan so that you can pay for college but you MUST pay it back.  Also, this money has an interest rate on it.  So the longer that is takes you pay the money back, the more you are going to actually have to pay back.  $79,000 may turn into $211,000 that you must pay back. 

Deferring payments are so risky because the intrest rates go up and you have no idea what the payments are gong to be like. It is all because of the interest rates.  They cause you to have to pay back a lot more than you oringinally signed up for. 

PART 2
I know that one of the most popular government student loan programs is FastWeb.  That is a company that gives out scholarships that you apply for so that it takes money off the cost for college.  Some scholarships ranges from $50 to $10,000!  A private students loan company are banks or credit card companies.  Some examples are Discover, Wells-Fargo, and Citi-Financial. 

Last year, all three companies that I had previously stated had all profitted.  Although they all did give out large sums of money, the money that was paid back to them was more than they had given out, due to intrest rates, therefore, causing them to see a profit. 

Some alternatives to taking out student loans are taking governement loans.  The money that they give you, you don't have to pay back.  Such things as going onto FastWeb.com and filling out applications for any scholarship that you think you qualify for.  Also, if you go and fill out a FASFA, that is also a government funded program that gives out money depending on your parents income, taxes, and things of that nature.  Finally, there is Bright Futures.  If you take an elective class for 3 or more years and maintain a B average in those three years, Bright Futures will pay 75% of your college tution on top of the money you get from scholarships and FASFA.