by Jeanine
(Nevada)
Trials and Tribulations of Paying Student Loans - When I was eighteen years old, I was “kicked out” of my house by my alcoholic parents. Rather than listen to them about being a failure, I collected up what scholarship money I had and moved to a cheap apartment by UCLA.
by Kristen Cooper
(Gardena, California)
ATTN: High school Seniors! Make sure you know the difference between Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans ! Subsidized loans are loans that will not accumulate interest during your college career.
Unsubsidized loans are loans that will accumulate interest every time you accept it per year. The best loan is SUBSIDIZED!
The government will also offer you the Parent Plus loan, Do not take it!, it is going to bind your parents in the loan, so if you cannot pay it off, Uncle Sam will come after your parents, it will accumulate interest just like the unsubsidized loan.
Do not be fooled with the idea of no accumulated interest... the subsidized loan will still have interest after the 6 month grace period given right after you graduate college. Fortunately, the amount at that later date won’t be as bad as the accumulated amount with the other two loans mentioned above.
Read more tips on Paying off Student Loans from other students and parents who have been through the student loan process.
by Brian E. Ward
(Harrisville, MS United States)
There Truly Is A God!!! (How my Student Loan Was Taken Care Of) - Wow!!! I thought that "demon" (my student loan) would never get off of my back!!! Well, I guess faith is a powerful thing! This is my story on how my Student Loan was "finally" paid off!!!
First of all, I was a young man, around 18, when I first got started with my college years. I majored in Pastoral Studies because of my "calling" into the ministry. Well, I was the first in my family to ever go to college... and this made it tough with my "student loan life"! Lack of knowledge can be a deadly thing!
It went like this, coming from a family that knew nothing about college, I had also never heard of anything such as grants or scholarships! I thought you just borrowed the money, went to school, and paid it off at the end in payments! Little did I realize this lack of knowledge would lead to trouble in my future!
A disability known as epileptic seizures came into play in my life. I could not hold a job, or even preach regularly, due to the seizures acting up. The payments just kept coming every month... ruining my credit each month that I couldn't pay! If I would have simply known about the grants and scholarships while in college, I would have never went through this!
Finally, after some extreme seizures, I got put on an EEG machine at a hospital while off of my medicine. I prayed and asked God to "Please let the doctors see what my family has been seeing!"... and that is exactly what happened! They saw me have 10 seizures and sleepwalk constantly... all throughout the entire night!
After all of this drama, the doctors listened to me about how I couldn't pay my bills due to not being able to hold a job because of this. Praise God, every debt... thanks to the help of the doctors and God himself, every debt... including my Student Loans... were completely forgiven... almost like a free bankruptcy!!!
My advice, both to students and to parents of future students... spend the time needed searching for any scholarship or grant that can add up and put you, or your child, through college without the burden of the Student Loans adding up and weighing on the student in the future!
Read more tips on Paying off my Student Loan from other students and parents who have been through the student loan process.
Scholarships for 2023 and 2024 - It is never too early or too late to work on your scholarship searches. If you are part of the high school class of 2024, you should work on your scholarship and college search now. See our list of Scholarships for High School Seniors
FAFSA - The official 2023 - 2024 FAFSA is now available. See information about FAFSA.
Scholarship Lists An overview of the different types of Scholarship Money for College.
Grants Learn more about grants, the other free money for college.
Need Tuition Help? Reduce the cost of tuition with these college Tuition Assistance Programs.
Tax Credit Claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit.
College Savings Plans Save money for college with these College Savings Plans.
Need a Student Loan? Yes, you qualify for these college Student Loans.
Scholarships for High School Students