Merit aid is by far the most desirable form of student aid: it typically comes in large amounts and in the form of grants and scholarships. But figuring out in advance how much aid you’re likely to get can be difficult if not downright impossible. So how you do, as a parent, help your student find a good merit aid…
Most students (and their parents) who borrow know that their loans need to be repaid, but they often don’t know how to repay them. Here is a good summary of what you need to know. Perhaps most important: the loan servicer needs your address.
Since 2013, interest rates on federal student loans are tied to the financial markets, specifically the yield of the 10-year Treasury note yield at its May auction. With the yield 0.37% lower than a year ago, interest rates on federal loans have also gone down by that amount.
Not a lot of surprises here. For those with a student heading off to college this fall, remember the rule of thumb: keep your student loan debt to less than your projected first-year salary.
With college graduations starting to take place, many students who have borrowed to pay for college are entering the 6-month “grace period” on their student loans. During this time, no payments are required. Woo hoo, right?