<p>DS has been offered $3500 in Perkins and $4500 in stafford subsidized. I thought the Perkins was considered a "better" loan than the Stafford. But the Perkins interest rate is 5% and 4.66 for the Stafford. I know the grace period is 3 months longer for the Perkins. So are there advantages to the Perkins?</p>
<p>Take the Perkins. It’s very limited, and at some schools taking it puts in front of the line for subsequent years. The other thing is that the Perkins loans are not counted against the Direct Loans limits, so that if your student needs to take an extra year of college, for example, if he did not use up all of his Stafford allocation, it can be used then. There is no guarantee at any given year that a student gets Perkins loans as it is not an entitlement as Stafford Direct Loans are. </p>