Consolidate Students

At the end of January, in his final State of the Union address, President Bush revealed continuing plans for expanding federal funding of private K–12 schooling with the proposal of a $300 million Pell Grant for Kids program. This program, named after the long-running college Pell Grants program, would provide federal grants to low-income families with children in underperforming schools to help send those children to private, faith-based, or higher performing out-of-district public schools.

With several offers on the table, trying to figure out which financial aid package is best for your particular situation can be difficult, especially if this is your first year dealing with the financial aid process. To help you decipher your financial aid award letters, here’s a step-by-step guide to what to look for and what those numbers mean.

According to a recent series of joint studies released by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems and Jobs for the Future, the United States continues to fall behind other major industrialized nations in the percentage of its population that holds a college degree.

If you’re a former student or college parent with outstanding federal grad school or student loans, you may be able to get up to 20 more years to repay simply by consolidating your federal parent or student loans with the federal student loan consolidation program.

With the U.S. dollar at an all-time low and continuing to lose value to other currencies, many college study-abroad programs are becoming increasingly expensive.

If you’re a graduate or college parent with outstanding federal college loans, you may be able to lower your monthly student loan payments by up to 42% simply by consolidating your federal parent or student loans. Read on to learn more about your options

Although Federal PLUS Loans and Stafford Loans are currently issued at fixed interest rates, PLUS and Stafford loans issued prior to July 1, 2006, are variable-rate student loans. The interest rate on these college loans adjusts every year on July 1.

As the fall semester draws to a close, families who still need money for college for end-of-semester expenses or for the upcoming spring semester may be able to get the help they need with a Federal PLUS Loan from NextStudent, a leading Phoenix-based education funding company. PLUS loans give parents of undergraduates a low-interest financing option that they can apply for throughout the school year (depending on the final deadline set by the school’s financial aid office). And PLUS financing is available even if your student doesn’t qualify for need-based grants or student loans.

If you graduated in May with federal Stafford student loans, you may be facing the prospect of adjusting your budget to accommodate new monthly student loan payments as your six-month grace periods end sometime this month. If you’re still doing temp work, looking for a job, or if you just got stuck with a lower-than-expected entry-level salary, it’s entirely possible that you’re not sure how you’re going to come up with the money you’re going to need each month to a meet a new monthly expense from student loans going into repayment.

If you graduated in May with student loans, you may be facing six-month grace periods that are ending sometime this month. Once your grace periods are over, you’ll be entering repayment on those student loans that were in grace.