{"id":3116,"date":"2011-08-22T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-22T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theamateurfinancier.com\/?p=3116"},"modified":"2011-08-23T09:04:58","modified_gmt":"2011-08-23T13:04:58","slug":"mixed-bag-monday-student-loans-student-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theamateurfinancier.com\/blog\/mixed-bag-monday-student-loans-student-debt\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixed Bag Monday: Of Student Loans and Student Debt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s one of those truisms of modern life: if you&#8217;re going to be a great success, you need education beyond high school.\u00a0 Alas, the days when you could graduate from high school (if you even got to that point), enter the workforce and earn a sizable income, enough to provide for yourself and your family, are long since past.\u00a0 (As are the days when the US was the center of industry and manufacturing, with Europe still reeling from World War II; but this article isn&#8217;t about the changing geopolitical realities of our world.)<\/p>\n<p>No, it&#8217;s widely agreed that success in the modern world requires an advanced degree, be it a bachelor&#8217;s degree, a master&#8217;s degree (as I&#8217;m currently trying to earn, myself) or a doctorate.\u00a0 For most of us, that means taking out student loans.\u00a0 As a service to students of all stripes, here are some of the answers to many of the questions you might have about the student loan process (as well as that inevitable fate of PAYING BACK the student loans).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: How Do I Get a Student Loan?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A: Well, in general, there are <a title=\"Student Loan Basics\" href=\"http:\/\/www.estudentloan.com\/student-loans\/student-loan-basics.html\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">two sources for student loans<\/span><\/a> in the US: the federal government and private lenders.\u00a0 The federal government will typically back private lenders to administer the federal government loans.\u00a0 In order to apply for any federal student loans, you\u2019ll need to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).\u00a0 When submitted to your school, that will allow you to find out what types of student loans you can obtain, the amounts of money you can borrow, and the interest rates you will pay when it\u2019s time to pay the loan back.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: What Can Student Loans be Used For (and Not Used For)?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A: It can be tricky to figure out the student loan limits.\u00a0 On one hand, student loan funds are only supposed to be used for education related expenses.\u00a0 On the other hand, your student loan contract might enable you to use the student loan money (the amount beyond what is needed to cover your tuition) to cover education-related expenses as diverse as your rent and transportation costs.\u00a0 You should stick with using your student loan to cover school related costs (no fancy vacations), but check with your student loan provider to learn exactly what limits there are on your loan.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: When Do I Have to Pay My Student Loans Back?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A: Typically, your student loan will have a grace period upon your graduation, a six month period where you don\u2019t have to pay back your loan.\u00a0 (Allowing you time to get a job.)\u00a0 You\u2019ll then have to pay back your student loans according to one of <a title=\"Student Loan Repayment Schedules\" href=\"http:\/\/www.direct.ed.gov\/RepayCalc\/dlindex2.html\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">several different schedules<\/span><\/a>, from standard (over the course of ten years) to extended (over an up to twenty-five year period).\u00a0\u00a0 You can also choose graduated schedules that enable you start paying smaller amounts and increase the payments over time, or income-contingent plans linked to how much you earn.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: In What Situations Do I Not Have to Pay Back My Student Loans?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A: Good news: there are <a title=\"Loan Cancellation Discharge\" href=\"http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/offices\/OSFAP\/DCS\/loan.cancellation.discharge.html\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">several situations<\/span><\/a> where you can get all or part of your student loans eliminated.\u00a0 Bad news: most of those situations are not the sort of thing you\u2019d want to happen to you.\u00a0 Death is a big one, as is total and permanent disability.\u00a0 You can also get a partial discharge for military service or full-time teaching.\u00a0 There are some things that don\u2019t eliminate your student loan obligations, bankruptcy being a major one.\u00a0 In any event, your best course of action is doing what you can to pay off the debt properly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: What Alternatives Are There to Student Loans?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong>A: You don\u2019t necessarily have to get a student loan in order to pay for college.\u00a0 There are other options, including federal grants and scholarships offered through your school, both of which can cover a substantial portion of your college costs, and have the advantage of not needing to be paid back.\u00a0 You can also pay the costs yourself.\u00a0 It\u2019ll be rough, but there are ways you can earn the money and still focus on your studies, from being a Resident Assistant (and possibly getting free lodging) to being a Teacher\u2019s Assistant (and helping shape young(er) minds as a bonus).<\/p>\n<p>A little bit of time and effort is all you need in order to gain a nice education and not be in terrible debt for the rest of your life.\u00a0 Good luck on the education process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s one of those truisms of modern life: if you&#8217;re going to be a great success, you need education beyond high school.\u00a0 Alas, the days when you could graduate from high school (if you even got to that point), enter the workforce and earn a sizable income, enough to provide for yourself and your family, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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