Distance Education Loans
Taking College Classes Online? Find the Loans that Work
You might pursue distance education for the convenience and flexibility inherent in an online curriculum. If you have a family and career then you could very likely be one of thousands of adult learners seeking the convenience of an online degree.
Distance education is no longer the exclusive domain of strictly online universities. Many brick and mortar schools—even elite universities—have already added online curriculums that guarantee to deliver the education you’d also expect to find on their campuses. And most come packaged with the same costly price tags.
Bottom line: without student loans of some kind you are unlikely to be able to afford an online degree.
Federal Loans and Online Degrees
When online education came into being federal loans were absolutely out of the question—there was no precedent and online degrees were often unaccredited and largely unregulated by higher education.
Now federal student loans do count for some distance degrees. The hitch: this is still very subjective, a program-by-program, degree-by-degree basis. Our best advice: ask your school’s financial aid office if the online program in which you’re interested is eligible for the federal loan program.
When your distance degree is eligible for the federal loan program you must use these loans first, no questions asked.
When Your Online Degree is Eligible for the Federal Loan Program
Apply for your federal loans by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Complete the application online or print off a paper copy.
Most popular federal loans are the Stafford Loans.
Federal Stafford Loans are some of the most common and affordable student loans. Almost every student qualifies for some form of government money through the Stafford, whether it’s subsidized, unsubsidized or a combination of the two.
Your online campus may also participate in the federal Perkins Loan program. This campus-based aid program is much more limited than the federal Stafford Loan program, but may provide an extra level of funds for the most economically disadvantaged distance learning students.
Graduate Students
If you’re a graduate student looking for loans and studying online, find out from your financial aid office if a PLUS Loan for Graduates and Professionals would work for your educational goals. This is a federal, credit-based, low interest loan that could ideally fund the balance of your college costs once you’ve subtracted other federal aid awards.
**Tip: Filing the FAFSA takes on even more urgency when you discover many private loans require you have a FAFSA on file to participate.
Repaying Your Federal Student Loans for Distance Education
Most federal loans are built to have their payments deferred while you are in school at least half time. Once you graduate or drop below half time enrollment you have a short grace period before your loan repayment begins—six months for Stafford Loans and nine months for Perkins Loans. Common repayment terms are between 10 and 15 years.
But what happens in the event that you have problems keeping abreast of loan payments? Do you have options that allow you to delay or postpone payments, and can you make smaller monthly payments? Questions just like this are not uncommon. Yes, you have options when your financial situation goes sour.
Student loan deferment and forbearance programs give you allowances for short-term setbacks such as job loss, temporary reduction in work hours and income and other situations in which your finances may be out of your control.
For long-term loan management, consolidation loans may make better sense. If you have multiple federal and/or private distance education loans you could be a candidate for student loan consolidation: federal student loan consolidation or a private consolidation loan.
**Find out if your financial circumstances position you for a loan consolidation, take our self-assessment quiz right now.
Private Distance Education Loans
Private student loans provide you with financial sustenance for online education in these situations: when you’ve been awarded federal loan money that falls short of meeting your educational expenses, and in cases in which you are ineligible for borrowing federal loans.
A wide variety of private loans may work for the purposes of an online program: standard private loans, continuing education loans, and career loans. Your best bet: ask your lender to recommend the private loans most well suited to your online degree goals.
Online Programs
The digital age has made online learning seamless and almost as natural a part of higher education as traditional campus learning. Students have the opportunity to network and collaborate in a variety of online environments and even access whole university libraries as more and more resources are brought online. So even though you may have a career and family, you may also logon and study when it’s convenient for you. Better yet, you may have the same student loan resources available as you would if you were attending a traditional degree program.
