1) What is a loan?

Short answer: A loan is money you borrow to pay for expenses you cannot afford to pay upfront. You have to pay back a loan, most of the time with interest.

2) Basics of borrowing student loan

3) Applying for a Federal Direct Loan

4) Do I need to accept my student loan offer?

Short answer: No, you do not need to accept it.

5) Types of Federal Student Loans

6) What is a Federal Direct Student Loan?

Short answer: A loan where the government is the lender, this include subsidized and unsubsidized loans.

7) What is a Grad PLUS loan?

Short answer: A loan for Graduate and Professional Degree students.

8) What is a PLUS loan?

Short answer: A Loan for the parents of dependent students to pay for tuition costs.

9) What is a private loan?

Short answer: A loan where the government is not a lender.

10) Federal Direct Student Loan limit

11) What is the 150% loan limit rule regarding Federal Direct Subsidized loans?

Short answer: A limit of 150% of the published program length where you can borrow subsidized loan, after that point you are no longer eligible for any more subsidized loans.

12) What is loan proration?

Short answer: A reduced in loan because you are not enroll in a full academic year.

13) Completing the Master Promissory Note

14) Do I need to complete a new Master Promissory Note if I have loans from undergraduate school?

Short answer: In most cases, no. Talk to your Financial Aid Office regarding this question.

15) Loan Entrance Counseling

16) Loan Exit Counseling

17) What happens to my Federal Direct loan if I do not attend school at least half-time?

Short answer: The government will give you a six month period to get back to half-time status or you will have to start repaying the loan with interest.

18) Federal Student loan repayment options

19) What is the Standard Repayment Plan?

Short answer: A plan where you pay a fixed amount each month.

20) What is an Income-Based Repayment Plan?

Short answer: A repayment plan where your repayment amount is 10% or 15% of your discretionary income.

21) What is an Income-Contingent Repayment Plan?

Short answer: Your payment will be the lesser of either 20% of your discretionary income or the amount you would pay on a 12-year Standard Repayment Plan multiply by a percentage of your income. Your balance is forgiven after 25 years of qualifying monthly repayments.

22) What is the extended repayment plan?

Short answer: A repayment plan for borrowers with more than $30,000 in federal student loan debt.

23) What is the Graduated Repayment Plan?

Short answer: A repayment plan where you pay a smaller monthly amount in the beginning and payments increase gradually.

24) What is the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Repayment Plan?

Short answer: A repayment plan where your monthly payment amount will be 10% of your discretionary income.

25) What is the Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) Repayment Plan?

Short answer: A repayment plan where your monthly payment amount will be 10% of your discretionary income, it will be recalculated each year. The terms also forgive outstanding balance after a certain amount of years.

26) Tips to save on your Federal Student Loans.