<p>Which loan is better to get? Which has better interest rates?</p>
<p>is the perkins loan subsidized? is it better than the subsidized stafford?</p>
<p>anyone know?</p>
<p>From Finaid.org
<a href="http://www.finaid.org/loans/studentloan.phtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.finaid.org/loans/studentloan.phtml</a></p>
<p>All Stafford Loans are either subsidized (the government pays the interest while you're in school) or unsubsidized (you pay all the interest, although you can have the payments deferred until after graduation). To receive a subsidized Stafford Loan, you must be able to demonstrate financial need.</p>
<p>With the unsubsidized Stafford loan, you can defer the payments until after graduation by capitalizing the interest. This adds the interest payments to the loan balance, increasing the size and cost of the loan. All students, regardless of need, are eligible for the unsubsidized Stafford Loan.</p>
<p>Stafford Loans allow dependent undergraduates to borrow up to
$2,625 their freshman year
$3,500 their sophomore year and $5,500 for each remaining year (independent students and students whose parents have been turned down for a PLUS loan can borrow an additional unsubsidized $4,000 the first two years and $5,000 the remaining years). </p>
<p>Graduate students can borrow $18,500 per year, although only $8,500 of that is subsidized. There are also cumulative limits of $23,000 for an undergraduate education and a $65,500 combined limit for undergraduate and graduate. (For independent students and for students whose parents were denied a PLUS loan the cumulative limits are $46,000 and $138,500, respectively.)</p>
<p>The** Perkins Loan** is awarded to undergraduate and graduate students with exceptional financial need. This is a campus-based loan program, with the school acting as the lender using a limited pool of funds provided by the federal government.<a href="The%20Perkins%20Loan%20is%20the%20best%20student%20loan%20available.">i</a>* It is a subsidized loan, with the interest being paid by the federal government during the in-school and 9-month grace periods. There are no origination or guarantee fees, and the interest rate is 5%. There is a 10-year repayment period.</p>
<p>The amount of Perkins Loan you receive is determined by your school's financial aid office. The program limits are $4,000 per year for undergraduate students and $6,000 per year for graduate students, with cumulative limits of $20,000 for undergraduate loans and $40,000 for undergraduate and graduate loans combined.</p>
<p>So the best loans are:</p>
<p>Perkins > Sub. Stafford > Unsub. Stafford > private loans?</p>
<p>What are some other loans where there is a grace period till after graduation?</p>
<p>Just a general question about loans repayment schedule: Is it possible to pay back the loan all at once after graduation without it accruing interest if for some reason you got some unexpected windfall of money?</p>
<p>The interst accruing depends on the loan. Since no bank is going to turn down money they will be glad to have you pay it off asap.</p>
<p>What about if you have part of the money? Will they take back pre-payments so you don't have to pay so much interest?</p>
<p>You would just owe interest on your outstanding balance</p>