Find Student Loan Consolidation

1. NotAnyoneYouKnow Says:
   July 30th, 2008 at 1:11 am

   As a green card holder, you are classified as a permanent resident of the United States - therefore, you are eligible for the federal government’s student financial aid programs.

   Like any other eligible student, your first step is to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and submit that form to the Department of Education. (You can do this online, by following the link below).

   Completion of the FAFSA requires that you provide financial information about you and your family - how many of you there are, the family household income, savings and certain kinds of other assets, etc.

   The Department of Education will analyze that information and determine an estimate of how much your family should be able to contribute to the cost of your college or university expenses. The computation will result in an EFC, which stands for Expected Family Contribution.

   When you complete the FAFSA form, there is an opportunity to request that the Department of Education send the computed EFC and other data to the financial aid office of any eligible school that you select (there’s no point in sending it to schools that haven’t accepted you for admission).

   Once the financial aid office has received your EFC, they will use that information to determine what financial assistance you are eligible for. If your EFC is particularly low (meaning that your family has financial difficulties), you will be eligible to receive “free money” from the government, in the form of educational grants. If your EFC is higher, you may not qualify for grants, but you will surely qualify for the federal government’s very attractive educational lending program, the Stafford loan.

   The best thing about Stafford loans, from your immediate perspective, is that you do not need any credit history to be awarded a Stafford Loan. (If you’re wondering why, it’s because the federal government has promised the lenders that they will pay off your loan if you are unable, or unwilling to pay). There are other great features of the Stafford loan - especially compared to any other form of educational borrowing - but I’ll leave that information for you to read about below.

   Your first option for educational assistance should ALWAYS be the federal student aid programs. There is NO reason to seek “private” loans until you have determined the amount of federal aid that is available to you - unless, of course, the “private” loan is an interest free loan from your wealthy Aunt!

   I’ve attached a very helpful booklet from the federal government that explains -not just federal financial aid, but all forms of aid. It’s a very useful read, because it also includes lots of information about the scams that you’ll need to watch out for. I would strongly recommend that you read this booklet - and that you share it with your parents, too, because there’s information about what a parent can do to help pay for their children’s education, as well.

   I hope this helped you! Good luck!

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