Saving For College
The life altering experience of going to college can be a wonder full thing for a student. For some, it may include moving away from home for the very first time, meeting new people, struggling through difficult courses and working through the financial issues that will come up.
With the financial status of the country looking a little on the grim side these days, many college students can see a reflection as they apply for a college student loan.
I read in a July survey by the National Association of College Student Financial Aid Administrators of financial aid administrators’ perspectives on the college student loan crunch, the results showed that more than 90 percent of federal financial aid administrators said they were concerned about the college student loan crunch.
Many colleges and universities have noticed a slight increase in college students experiencing some difficulty accessing a private student loan and are working with these college students to find some alternate ways to finance their higher education costs. However, students seeking a federal college student loan are seeing much more success.
At many colleges and universities, college students are finding it no more difficult to obtain a federal student loan this year than in previous years. However, for college students who have established some poor credit or who do not have a credit worthy co-signer, private student loans have become much more difficult to obtain.
Some lenders and financial institutions have tightened their criteria for private student loans and, in many cases, have increased the interest rate or decreased repayment incentives.
On the other hand, terms of the more popular federal college student loans have not changed and the interest rates are actually scheduled to decrease again over the next three years. An adequate number of lenders are participating in the federal financial aid programs to service the students, despite a few lenders that are opting out of the program.
Though many students just graduating from high school are seeking some kind of financial aid, so are many adults who are looking to better themselves with a specialized degree.
There also seems to be an increase of college students who want to continue their education after they have been out of college for a few years and are coming back to college and seeking some financial aid.
Many of the new college students are people that have found themselves out of work or know their companies are going to close. On the positive side, students going to community colleges can obtain an associate degree for a much lower cost and transfer their credits for a bachelor’s degree to a four-year college or university. It is a win-win situation for the college student.
As college bound students look towards the future, the most important thing a college student can do to afford college is to save for it. Every dollar you have saved now is a dollar you do not have to borrow at a later. Even if it is savings earned during summer jobs while in high school this can significantly reduce the dependence on a college student loan later.
College student loan programs are still an excellent vehicles for financing the remaining cost of a college student’s education when other resources are not available. The lifetime learning benefits of a college degree far outweigh the short-term cost of repaying a college student loan.
