<p>They should be called "financing". </p>
<p>Not only that, they should be subject to the same truth in lending requirements as any other loan you get. With papers showing the APR and clearly showing the total amount that will be paid over the life of the loan if payments are made according to schedule.</p>
<p>I consider loans "aid". They help students to achieve their goals. Why shouldn't students pay for their own higher educations? I did, my husband did---how?---state universities and LOANS.</p>
<p>Anything that helps you go to college is aid. If you don't have money to pay your rent and your friend pays it for you after you promise to pay him back, he is still helping you, right? I am putting myself through school, so any loan is soooo welcome.</p>
<p>I voted undecided because I believe it CAN help, especially if it's subsidized & allows the student to get through education & pay it back by teaching and/or service after college or over time. I think it should be separately spelled out & labeled as LOANS (novel thought) so students & families can apply knowing that they will have to take on substantial loans to attend the school insteadly of naively assuming that as long as they are admitted, the school will take care of everything but their EFC. I don't think schools should claim to meet 100% of need if much of the need is based on huge loans--it's just wrong.</p>
<p>I can't imagine schools agreeing to this truth in labeling tho because they like having their ability to "preferentially package" aid for the students as it applies to the schools mission and needs. Those most attractive for whatever reason to the school get the smallest (or no) loans & greatest (or all) grants/scholarships. Schools are a business but often pretend they're not. It leads to so much disappointment & disillusionment. </p>
<p>The schools like to say they meet full need, tho they met the validictorian who plays the oboe, has done research published in national journal & a few patents via full-ride scholarship for 4 years while they met the commended student who has OK ECs with federal grants & HUGE unsubsidized loans & work-study only. Where's the truth in labeling?</p>
<p>Usually, most of the top LAC cancel the loan, if the intl applicant returns to their home country to work there and remain there for at least 1 year.</p>
<p>calmom wrote: They should be called "financing". Not only that, they should be subject to the same truth in lending requirements as any other loan you get. With papers showing the APR and clearly showing the total amount that will be paid over the life of the loan if payments are made according to schedule.</p>
<p>I agree with this statement fully! As someone who worked in finance for 20 years and would NEVER sign a contract without knowing what I was getting into, even I've had to bend my stringent rules!! Judge Judy would cringe!</p>
<p>technically...loans are aid, but you're still paying for it...just in the future. So I don't think it's really 'aiding' anyone.</p>
<p>My opinion...student loans should not be considered financial aid. However the reality is that they ARE considered financial aid. And that is that. Now...regarding other loans like PLUS Loans...personally I was offended that these were even listed on my child's finaid award letters. They are loans to ME...not my child. Everything else on the finaid letter is awards to the child or loans to the child in the child's name (eg. Perkins or Stafford). But Plus Loans are simply commercial loans to parents that are available to anyone with decent credit who checks the box on their finaid forms indicating they want to receive the info. In a perfect world, loans would not be part of finaid...any loans...but I've noticed this is not a perfect world especially when it comes to college costs.</p>
<p>Loans used to be considered financial aid when their interest rates were far below the norm. Now they are more or less like any other loan packages and should be considered as such and not as financial aid.</p>
<p>I think that subsidized loans might be considered finaid, because the recipient is given more favorable terms, not asked to pay interest during the college years, and might have an opportunity to have all or a portion of the loan amount forgiven after graduation.</p>
<p>For the most part handing a family with genuine need an unsubsidized loan is a slap in the face...a lie...saying we'll help you...NOT.</p>
<p>it certainly isn't a perfect world when it comes to college costs as noted above
At most if colleges tied their increases to inflation & if our salary also went up along with inflation, then perhaps it would be a little more manageable.</p>
<p>I would say yes, though they're obviously not the preferred kind. They're the best kinds of loans one can acquire, besides borrowing interest-free money from your rich uncle.</p>
<p>Yes for student loans, no for parent loans. I personally can't see why making parents take out a loan is considered financial aid. If a parent can't afford to pay college tuition outright, what makes the college think that they can afford to pay off a loan? My college has an installment payment plan anyways, so my parents aren't taking out any loans for me- and I didn't expect them to.</p>
<p>Loans for students, however, I see the point of. You can't expect a high-school student to make enough money to pay tuition outright and still have time for academics, and I agree that students should have to contribute financially somehow.</p>
<p>Some parents prefer the loans rather than paying outright because it is easier to pay the fees. It is extremely difficult to pay tuition every quarter/semester at private institutions. Can you imagine coming up with $9,000-$18,000 every 3-6 months?</p>
<p>Many Us have installment plans where you pay a set amount every month instead of coming up with larger lump sums several times/year. Some Us even "allow" you to charge on credit cards, so you can "get miles" or whatever perks to help offset some of the pain of payment.</p>
<p>That's if you have good credit. Or any credit in the first place. My family had to file for bankruptcy (2) years ago when their business tanked; leaving my siblings and I without suitable cosigners. I had to get my boyfriend to do it. Which is a position no parent wants their child to be in, and certainly no position I want to be in.</p>
<p>Unsubsidized, credit-based loans do not equal aid.</p>
<p>To me, they're not aid at all. With all the college acceptances I got, I listed each financial aid package twice: their amount and the "real amount" (their amount sans loans).</p>
<p>No to parent loans, yes to student loans. Neither is preferrable, but at least student loans have slightly better terms. They both kind of suck in my book though. You know the price they tell you you're paying isn't really true. For example, at one school they said my family had to make up 11,000 (on a 3,000 EFC!). That's financially impossible. So it would be loans on top of the 4,000 in loans they gave me. What kind of a deal is that?</p>
<p>Using loans as financial aid also introduces a "flat rate" to a "progressive" system. The fact that non FAFSA aid is based on an unknowable formula is also very suspect.</p>
<p>This topic touches upon one of my hot buttons, financial aid in general. There is a large number of schools that say the meet "100% of financial need". The definition of meeting 100% of financial need is left up the institutions wher school X defines it one way and school Y defines it another way.</p>
<p>At the end of the day I am okay with Stafford Loans being part of the "financial aid" package but no other loans, particularly PLUS loans!</p>