Maryland Student Loan Options
Fund Your Education for Less
USA Funds is the primary state-sanctioned student loan guarantor in Maryland. The purpose of the loan guaranty process is to create a seamless relationship between state funding resources, lenders and servicing companies. The student loan process is comprised of a number of different steps and in most cases a company specializes in only one.
FFELP Loans
Maryland students need convenient access to the Federal Family Education Loan Program. This is the title given to the group of federally funded loans including Stafford, PLUS and the Federal Consolidation Loan. USA Funds financially backs the loans, essentially guaranteeing their repayment.
Finding a Student Loan Lender
USA Funds works directly with regional and nationally recognized student loan lenders from private banks to large student loan providers. When you choose a lender through USA Funds you may shop their special borrower benefits that almost every company employs. Student loans are big business and in the interest of competition lenders market them like candy, with attractive wrappers and interest cutting incentives intended to outdo the competition. So shop carefully and make sure you understand the finer points of the FFELP Loans. Typical benefits include no-fee loans, lower interest rates for prompt payments and even more for setting up your payments through an automated online system.
Alternatives to Federal Loan Funding
As a college student you are required to apply for federal loans before you apply for any other types of student loans. “Other” student loans are simply called either alternative or supplemental student loans. They have come to provide a necessary service, that of helping students finance the balance of their tuition after federal funds have been disbursed. Remember the Stafford Loan only averages a couple of thousand dollars in funds, which means if you go to a private college you could be looking at needing thousands of extra dollars in financing.
You may shop your lender’s alternative loan product and many offer very affordable and low-cost loans. Make sure your credit is in shape, though. A condition of the application process is a credit check. If you are like many other students you will need to use a co-borrower to sign with you. Statistics show that almost half of all students must have a co-signor, so don’t feel badly.
Repaying Loans
Your loans will come due around six months after you graduate. If you have multiple loans like most of your college brethren, the monthly payments can become a brand-new balancing act you may or may not be able to financially swing. Loan consolidation is available for your multiple federal loans or in a private version. Either version takes your student loans down to one monthly payment, typically half what you would have been paying before consolidating.
Special Loans
Recently Sallie Mae, one of the largest student loan providers, worked with the state of Maryland to create a couple of new student loan programs that boost the interest level of future teachers and nurses in the state. The Teach for Maryland and Care for Maryland loans are specially designed to keep nurses and teachers who are going to school in the state, working in the state after graduation. These careers suffer the most from burn out and low pay which translates into lower numbers of interested students. Sallie Mae knows that the best way to motivate students is to offer financial incentive. If you are a nursing or teaching student going to school in Maryland you may qualify for the loan if you agree to work in the state after you graduate. The loan is an ultra-low cost product, which credits you part of the loan once you graduate.
