If you have heard about any kind of Federal financial aid for students, you are already familiar with US Department of Education loans. The US Department of Education handles all government aid for defraying the cost of attending college in America, from grants to loans. The first thing that you will need to do to apply for US Department of Education loans is to fill out a FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. FAFSA forms compare the amount of money required to attend a specific college to the amount of money that can be expected to be paid by the family of the attendee. Any difference is the amount of money eligible for student aid.

Qualifying for US Department of Education Loans
US Department of Education loans have specific qualifications that an applicant must meet to be eligible. The qualifications include US Citizenship (some non-citizens with social security numbers are also eligible), financial need, possession of a valid Social Security Number, and proof of eligibility for higher education in the form of a high school diploma, General Education Development (GED) certificate, or similar. Furthermore, applicants for US Department of Education loans must be in good financial, academic, and legal standing. In other words, they must be registered with the Selective Service if required, they must not have defaulted on a student loan in the past, they can have no record of conviction on charges of sales or possession of drugs, and they must maintain a certain grade point average (GPA) to continue to receive student loans from the Department of Education.

Types of US Department of Education Loans
There are three main possibilities when considering US Department of Education loans: grants, which are monetary gifts, student loans, and work-study programs where the money for education is earned. Only in the case of student loans
does the money need to be repaid. Most federal grants are based solely on financial need, and some are given on a first-come-first-served basis, so it is important to apply as early as possible.

Work-Study programs are not technically US Department of Education loans, but they are a federally mandated way to
receive financial aid to attend college. A number of work-study hours are specified as part of the financial aid package.

These usually involve jobs working with non-profit companies or on campus, and pay a modest salary. The money earned can be used for college tuition. True US Department of Education loans include the Perkins Loan, the Stafford Loan, and the PLUS loan for parents.

Perkins loans have a particularly low interest rate and can be paid back over a time period of as long as 10 years. There are a limited number of Perkins Loans available to each school every year. The Stafford Loan has a higher interest rate than the Perkins loan, and doesn’t necessarily offer a grace period after graduation. However, there are more Stafford loans offered by the US Department of Education every year. Stafford loans are even available to students who don’t have a pressing financial need. Stafford loans may be paid off over a period of as long as thirty years.

PLUS loans are the final type of US Department of Education loans. They are offered to parents of undergraduates, as opposed to the students themselves. Payments on Federal PLUS loans start two months after the money is received, and can be paid off over a ten-year term.

Curious and serious enough to build up a successful career? For achieving a successful future and bright career you must be well educated. Presence of education has become so immense that nowadays without it no one is regarded as capable of doing anything. However, for a better and higher education you must have money otherwise affording education in best institutes is impossible. For economically weak students several plans have also been undertaken which aims at making them self-dependent both financially and mentally. Among these the personal education loans are one and are quite helpful to all.

Based on the ability of the students these loans use to offer secured and unsecured two forms of loans. This is because borrowers can be of several types. Those who have their own home or any other valuable property to offer as collateral will go for the secured loans. As these loans seek collateral from the borrower so, it will beautifully suit such borrowers. Even you would get to enjoy several benefits by going for it. Lower interest rate, large amount and longer repayment term are the factors that are being offered to such borrowers. Therefore, people like to go for these loans mostly.

Those who cannot offer anything as collateral will find good support in the unsecured loans. This is because no security is required here. The rate of interest in it may be a bit higher but otherwise the loan amount is quite helpful for affording education.

For bad credit holders too, these loans are always accessible. CCJ, defaults, late payment, arrears, skipping of installments or bankruptcy, whatever is the credit record, is allowed in it.

So, for a student it becomes easier to manage almost everything like admission, books, food, shelter, travel expenses, medical treatment and classroom projects through the personal education loans. For repaying these loans too you will get a sufficient time period. It can be paid off 6 months after the completion of the course or after you secure a job.

In India there is famous slogan ‘Education for all’ but how to achieve this. In India where the number of people living in rural areas is more than the urban and are poor thus on the first place it is difficult for them to think about going to school and somehow they manage to take up education up to the secondary level, it is impossible for them to take up higher education.

The basic reason behind this is lack of money. The fees associated with the professional courses are so high and other expenses related to these courses also cost more therefore it makes difficult for a poor and middle class students to pursue for these courses. In current scenario it has become difficult to live a smooth life with limited income and cost of education is also high.

Every parent wants to give best education to his/her child so that they can fulfill their dreams and live prosperous life. To overcome this problem in India banks offer education loan for students. Earlier education loan was given for pursuing professional courses but now the policy has been changed. The loan can be taken for the primary level education also especially given for girl child for the development of the girls.

Education loan covers the complete expenditure of a course such as tuition fees, cost of study material, hostel fees, for buying equipments related to the course, etc. This personal loan has proved to be a great help for the aspiring students who have the aptitude but due to lack of money cannot think of taking up higher studies. Therefore this personal loan has to much extent has helped to come over the financial problem of many students and move further to achieve their goals.

Banks give education loan for pursuing higher education and professional courses within India and abroad. The terms and conditions, loan amount and the tenure vary in both the cases. Students who have secured admission in the colleges and professional institutes are eligible to take loan. Banks charge different interest rates for different loan amount.

The repayment of the loan commences one year after completion of course or 6 months after securing job, whichever is earlier. Earlier the students who took loan for professional courses in which high cost is involved, bank used to take collateral from the students but now government has removed the collateral security on the 4lac amount. Loan above the 4lac amount will carry collateral condition. However the repayment tenure for students taking higher education within India and abroad is different. Generally this loan comes with an option of equal monthly installments.

Moreover there is personal loan which parents can take for the higher education of their children. The interest rate on this loan is more or so similar with flexible terms and conditions.