Need Help Paying For College

Paying for College
1

<p>Hello,
I have been accepted to a nice school (NYU Stern) and I took the offer. The problem is the school tuition is a lot and even though I have received grants/scholarship but I still have to pay around 20K a year by loans. I have received the following loans:</p>

<li> Federal Perkins Loan (Subsidized) - $2,000 @ 5.0% Fixed</li>
<li> Federal Stafford Loan (Subsidized) - $3,500 @ 6.8% Fixed</li>
<li> Federal PLUS Loan - $13,000 @ 8.5%</li>
</ol>

<p>I am deciding to take both of the subsidized loans for a total of 6.5K because they look appealing and my parents are helping me with 5K a year for a total of about 12K. This still leaves me with about 8K to pay. Should I go with a private lender such as Citibank because they have a program with the school and carry a lower interest (7.25%), or take the PLUS loan? Here is some info about the citibank program:
<a href=“http://studentloan.citibank.com/school/nyu/index.asp[/url]”>http://studentloan.citibank.com/school/nyu/index.asp</a></p>

<p>With this said, is there something you would do differently that can save money in the future? Which loans, if any, would you take?</p>

<p>I would appreciate any sort of help or comments!</p>

2

<p>you can try the private loan if you are sure you will be getting that low of an interest rate. DO be careful, though, because the private loan interest rates are based on your credit. Bad or no credit will mean much higher interest rates than is advertised. Having a co-signer will great credit can mean a lower interest rate, having great credit yourself could mean a decent interest rate for yourself. Explore your options thoroughly.</p>