College Grads: who took out loans

How do they work? from what I am gathering so far is if you get a Stafford loan you can get the interest deferred until you graduate, but what if you start paying them off sooner, you don't get penalized right?

As soon as you make the first payment, they start charging you interest, whether you are in school or not?

Who is the best lender to get a loan from?

hmm, I don't know.

I didn't pay mine off untill they made me.
there was a 6th month grace period after graduation, then they started sending me bills. I paid the minimum for a while, then payed bigger junks when I could.

Mine was through Citibank, but I believe the school reccommended lenders & this was one of them.

Mine's from the US Dept of Education ... my rate is like 4% or some ridiculously low number ...
Talk to the school's financial services and ask them about it.

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Posted by tourist

hmm, I don't know.

I didn't pay mine off untill they made me.

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Me too... Go on to fafsa.org - you should be able to find the info you need there.

I took out a few Stafford loans for college and, of course, tons of loans for law school that I'll be paying back starting this fall.

When I called Sallie Mae--they have all my Stafford loans--they told me that I could 'lock in' a low interest rate right now by consolidating my loans. Consolidating is really the way to go since it would save me $400 a month. However, if you consolidate before your grace period is up, you lose the grace period and repayment must begin immediately. I think I'll wait til November

As for early payments, I'm not sure but I think you are allowed to make payments toward the interest accrued. I get a statement every month telling me how much interest has accrued and where to send a payment. Hope this helps!

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Posted by Julestrd

How do they work? from what I am gathering so far is if you get a Stafford loan you can get the interest deferred until you graduate, but what if you start paying them off sooner, you don't get penalized right?

As soon as you make the first payment, they start charging you interest, whether you are in school or not?

Who is the best lender to get a loan from?

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I do not know who the best lender is, but my Fin Aid officer told me that some banks/loan companies have agreements with schools and if you apply through the school (which is usually how it is) then they will apply through their banks that they use.

Some Stafford Loans allow you to pay of the interest while you are still attending classes. I do not remember if it is the Subsidized or Unsubsidiezed loan though. You do have a 6 month grace after graduation, and you can defer payment if you return for another degree (not if you are in a Continuing Ed program).

I refinanced my loan 6 months before I graduated through another company, so I never had to pay back the original loan company but once - it was refinanced with other loans, so I no longer have to follow the 'student loan' rules b/c it is now part of a personal loan.

I did take out loans. And I consolidated at a rate of 2.78% I am back in school come Sept and my loans will be defered until I graduate. The best part is that when you consolidate you get a better rate.