Reduce Student Loans for College
A Way to Reduce Your Student Loans for College
High school students who are looking for ways to lower student loans for college should seriously consider a community college. This will in effect reduce the total cost of a college education and will help them after they graduate.
Many financial advisers today recommend this path to any cost conscious students. Many of these students are able to pay the cost for the two year program without the aid of student loans. Once they complete the community college program and transfer to a four year university, they are able to reduce the need for student loans for college by up to fifty percent in many cases.
Generally, community colleges have tuition rates that are well below a four year university, so this appears to be a natural choice for many students. Any of them who have cost management issues & need to keep student loans for college at a minimum, should consider this route.
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However, an interesting fact has been pointed out regarding students who go that route. According to the Department of Education, students who attend the two year community college program are more likely to struggle with college loan debt, and eventually default on their federal student loans.
The DOE states that 10.1 percent of those community college students, who carry the federal education loans, end up defaulting on their loans within the first two years of repayment. This happens to be twice as many as the 4.4 percent of students who attended all four years at a university or even a private college. Why is that?
The DOE has no explanation for this statistic, so we can only guess. Is the quality of education at a community college in question? Do many of those students have a lower GPA? Are the statistic comparisons flawed? I would really appreciate your comment & opinion below.
Minimizing and Managing Student Loans for College
So what do the default and delinquency rates tell us about students who are trying to lower the cost of an education by reducing student loans for college? For many students, attending a community college is an effective way to significantly lower the cost of a college education. However, there are a few issues to avoid taking on more student loans for college debt that you must handle later.
- Keep your non-tuition expenses low
Various College Boards state that 52 percent of the students pursuing an Associate’s degree don’t take out any student loans for college. Many live at home and are able to manage expenses better. In addition, some reduce expenses even more by working full or part time jobs while attending community college.
- Seek out scholarships and grants
College costs can be cut even further by being very pro-active in looking for scholarships and grants. This additional financial aid doesn’t have to be repaid and reduces the need for student loans for college. If you’re working full or part time while attending, check with the human resources department to see if they offer tuition reimbursement programs or other programs that can help you to reduce the cost of your education.
- Complete the requirements for your degree
For those students who must rely on student loans for college, the best predictor of successful repayment of your loans is GRADUATION. This one fact alone reflects that these students are most likely to repay their student loans for college without defaulting or becoming delinquent. The overall number of defaults is twelve percent higher for drop outs than for those that graduate.
- Only borrow what you need
The temptation to borrow more is greater for a community college student because the maximum federal student loans for college is $5,500.00 for the first year no matter what type of school you are attending. It’s almost twice as high for those students who aren’t financially dependent on their parents. Since the cost of the community college is lower, the extra money available can be too tempting for some. We know living costs can be high, but how you pay for those costs in college can mean the difference between manageable and unmanageable debt levels when you graduate.
The lower your student loans for college are when you graduate, the faster you’ll be able to repay them. You don’t want to be still repaying them when you’re old and gray.
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2 responses to “Reduce Student Loans for College”
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Gust Lenglet – Platinum Author
Muito bom
Thanks, glad you liked it.