<p>This process is confusing me. Can anyone recommend the best lender for a stafford loan? There has to be some sort of "best" lender that offers the best deal. My school recommended citizens bank (backed up by Sallie Mae, so I'm going to avoid them after reading all the bad stuff about SM), citibank, and key bank. They also listed Edamerica, education finance partners, and... sallie mae. However, I'm pretty clueless as to what all of the %'s and fees really mean. Can anyone help me out a bit please?</p>
<p>I agree - picking a lender can be very interesting. I will not recommend a specific lender, but will suggest looking at the benefits that each lender looks at. A common recommendation is to check to see if your bank does student loans. However, several banks have backed out of the student loan business. </p>
<p>Some things to keep in mind for looking at Stafford loans:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Does the lender charge an origination fee? Some lenders are picking this up on behalf of their applicants.</p></li>
<li><p>Does the lender or guarantor charge the Default Aversion Fee? In some cases this is being picked up for the lender or the guarantor.</p></li>
<li><p>Interest rates - this is set by congress each year, not by the lenders. It should be the same across the board. However, a lender may have some reductions in repayment for setting up an auto debit or making on time payments.</p></li>
<li><p>Back end benefits - do not count on these, but consider them. These are benefits for making your payments on time, setting up an auto-debit payment plan.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you still need additional funds for school after the Stafford loan has been exhausted, you may want to consider an alternative of private loan. On these the interest rates are more important as they can vary across the board. Make sure you have disclosure of the terms of the loan (interest rate and fees that you will have) prior to accepting the loan.</p>
<p>thanks, quick question though - how am i supposed to start the process? I found a website staffordloan.com, am i supposed to begin my application there?</p>
<p>any help greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Based on my personal and professional experience I would recommend EdAmerica...All they do is financial aid and, at least currently, seem to be one of the most stable lenders around. When most were laying off employees, EdAmerica was hiring new employees.</p>
<p>I'm looking at Edamerica's site, and I don't see any info on any sort of origination fees, etc. Are they hiding it or is it a really good deal?</p>
<p>The FinAid web site recommends Citi as one starting point. I suggest Wachovia (good terms, good at answering questions).</p>
<p>Yanks,</p>
<p>In some areas there is no origination fee for EdAmerica and in others there is a 1% fee. According to my source, they have chosen to not list it origination fee because of the difference. Basically, this difference is due to how some of the guarantee agencies are handling it. Some guarantee agencies are absorbing the 1% fee on behalf of the student.</p>
<p>also, if i'm taking out an unsubsidized loan in addition to the subsidized, should i look closer at the interest rate deductions, etc? and do i take out all 5500 at once? or is it done separately?</p>
<p>yanks, check out your school's website's financial aid section. I hope they have links there that would bring you to the stafford sites. From what I know, I think you have to do a online promissory signing in addition to filling up the form. If you can't find the links, call your school's finaid office and ask them how you should start the process. Also, be aware that a new law has passed that increases the allowable amount to be borrowed by $2000 (unsubsidized). You can ask about that too from your school's finaid office. Good luck yanks.</p>
<p>From your other posts, it looks like you are going to Dartmouth. I checked out their financial aid pages ... not real helpful. You have to begin with Entrance Counseling for your Stafford Loan:</p>
<p>Complete</a> Online Student Loan Counseling</p>
<p>Some of your questions may be answered during your entrance counseling. After that, you'll have to sign a Master Promissory Note. To do this, you need to have selected a loan provider. When you finish the entrance counseling & have decided on a provider, get your questions together & either call or email Dartmouth's f/a office with your specific questions. I am sure they get asked the same questions over & over, so it won't take long to get your answers.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Be thinking about whether you are able to pay the interest that accumulates on the $2k of unsubsidized loan while you're in school. If not, you'll have to have that interest added onto your loan principal, and you'll be incurring interest on the interest during your school years. There's a calculator at FinAid (finaid.org) called "Cost of Interest Capitalization" that allows you to see how much it would cost you either way.</p>
<p>I bet (but don't know) that you'll end up signing for two loans, because of the different terms for subsidized/unsubsidized. If you use the same provider for both, you should get the same interest-rate discount for on-time payments, origination fee waiver, etc.</p>