<p>ASU really didn't offer much in the Financial Aid department. They gave me 5 grants for the 2008-2009 Academic Year worth 4k.</p>
<p>They offered me:
Direct Subsidized Loan - 3,500.00
Direct Unsubsidized Loan - 4,000.00</p>
<p>What's the difference between these two? And is it just a regular loan where you have to pay back these loans later on?</p>
<p>Subsidized loan - the govt pays the interest while you are in college plus for a grace period of 6 months after you graduate (or stop attending). After that you are responsible for the interest plus repaying the loan. Interest rate for loans issued 2008-2009 school year is 6%</p>
<p>Unsubsidized loan - you are responsible for the interest from day 1 though the interest may be capitalized until after graduation. Interest rate is 6.8%.</p>
<p>Both have origination fees which are charged up front meaning you actually receive slightly less that the actual loan.</p>
<p>Yes you have to pay them back later on.</p>
<p>finaid.org has information on student loans here
FinAid</a> | Loans | Student Loans</p>
<p>Would anyone recommend taking them?</p>
<p>I'm considering taking the subsidized definitely because the fact that the government pays the interest, and will probably take the unsubsidized loan as well. The loans go up higher I read from freshmen to soph,junior, and senior year. </p>
<p>This definitely helps because the grants didn't give much, and this knocks the tuition (I'm OOS) from 30k to around 16 thousand.</p>
<p>Definitely take the subsidized - you aren't going to find interest free money for 4 years anywhere else.</p>