<p>My daughter has been granted a Stafford Loan. Anyone have any suggestions on choosing a lender? This will be her first year so this is all quite confusing. Also the Stafford will only be for 3,500 so she/we will eventually be borrowing additional funds elsewhere. Anyone have info on Parent Plus or private loans a student can take on their own, (with co-signer)</p>
<p>First, you need to be sure that the school participates with FFELP loans (as opposed to Direct Loans which do not involve a lender). Then you need to look over their list of recommended lenders and compare the repayment benefits each offers. Choose one that offers the best repayment package based on how you intent to repay the loans. For example, if you intend to have the loans repaid very quickly, you will want to choose a lender which provides the benefits very early into repayment. If, however, you plan to take advantage of the full 10+ years, you’ll want to choose one which offers a higher benefit but may take a little longer to earn. Many of the FFELP lenders also offer Parent PLUS and private loans, so my suggestion would be to start with the Stafford Lender you select.</p>