<p>At the school I am going to be attending this fall, I owe 2,000 for the fall semester after all grants, scholarships, etc. I have a choice of either taking a stafford loan or a perkins loan (or maybe even paying it in cash...if this is even better than the other 2 options please tell me). I am also guaranteed to be transferring out after the fall semester to another school. I was wondering which loan would be better for me to cover the 2000, or should I just pay it?</p>
<p>if you can afford to just pay the 2,000 you might as well because with a loan you'll gain interest and end up paying more than 2,000
i think the perkins loan is a better deal...the interest rate is lower than the stafford loan (i think it's ~4% versus 6.8%)</p>
<p>Perkins is the better loan - there is no origination fee and the interest rate is 5%. Stafford has an origination fee (though some lenders waive it so check your particular offer) of @ 3% and the interest rate is 6.8%. </p>
<p>Perkins is a subsidised loan so the government pays the interest while you are at least half time in college and with a grace period of 9 months after that. Stafford can be subsidised or unsubsidised. </p>
<p>I would take the Perkins - it is interest free money until you leave college. If you take the Perkins loan you can leave the equivilant invested and earning money for the next 4-5 years. ($2000 @ 5% a year will increase in value to @ $2430 in 4 years). Then you can pay the Perkins off.</p>