Oregon Student Loan Options
Find the Right Loan
Oregon college bound students have a couple of resources when it comes time to plan a financial aid strategy. The Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) is the state-sanctioned loan guarantor for the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and specializes in guiding students in healthy loan repayment. But when federal loans don’t offer the complete solution, the Student Loan Finance Association (SLFA) offers Oregon students a specially packaged private or alternative loan to supplement education costs. SLFA, a subsidiary of Sallie Mae, also provides FFELP loans for students seeking one student loan pit stop.
Low-Cost Student Loans for Oregonians
In conjunction with Sallie Mae, Student Loan Finance Association is able to attach generous perks to the federal loans such as the Stafford and Perkins loans. For example, when you apply and finance through the SLFA, you get their special loan options like a small interest rate deduction for consecutive on-time payments. SLFA will also cover your very first payment due, easing your burden by one more month. Students may apply through SLFA with an online FAFSA.
Oregon Alternative College Loans
OregonFirst loans are the SLFA’s answer to low-cost, lower interest alternative loans offered to Oregon students. Simply called Signature Loans, these funding options provide much of the extra tuition monies you need after your federal loans and applicable scholarships are disbursed. Most students don’t meet their tuition costs just on the basis of federal funds and scholarships take time to search for. In fact, Signature Loans are the alternative to your commercial bank options that typically bundle higher interest rates and maintain stiff qualifying criteria for credit checks.
Applying for Student Loans
When you apply for a Signature Loan with SLFA, you are applying for a credit-based loan, which means you will need to have a certain level of credit established as well as a decent credit score. If you are lacking in either you might have a co-borrower willing to sign on the dotted line on your behalf. The better yours or your co-borrower’s credit, the better will be the attached interest rate and terms of your loan. According to financial aid specialists about half of all college students must use a co-borrower, so it’s not uncommon.
You or a co-borrower can fill out an online application get an approval in less than 10 minutes. Many alternative loans require students to at least make interest payments once the loan has been disbursed, but the Oregon Signature Loans don’t require any payments until after graduation. You may also borrow the remaining cost of your tuition once federal loan funds have been applied. In fact, all students are required to first apply for federal loans before negotiating the waters of private loans.
Paying Back Your Loans
Most of your student loans will not come due until at least 6 months after you graduate. This has become a nearly traditional grace period. The purpose is to allow you time to get a job and get yourself stable financially before all your loans commence payments. For many students the loan repayment process has become an unwieldy expense. Most graduates now carry a slew of loans, from federal to alternative and with heady credit card debt to boot.
During the loan application process borrowers are asked to choose a repayment plan, usually standard, graduated, income-contingent or extended. Choose wisely. Your choice of payment program could make it easy or difficult to manage your debt. In the past borrowers had quick access to low-cost student loan consolidation loans. Thanks to legislative changes most loan providers have been financially driven from the consolidation business, so you have fewer options when your monthly student loan payments grow challenging. In answer, extended payment plans are the newest addition—an attempt to mimic the features of loan consolidation.