<p>Any benefits or pitfalls we should be aware of?</p>
<p>Public law 107-139 affecting Staffords, PLUS.
If costs of Staffords increase and become fixed, How soon will Perkins follow?</p>
<p>It's not a direct comparison. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but Perkins loans do NOT require repayment until several months after one is no longer at least a half-time student, with no interest accumulating or any other sort fo penalty. Unsubsidized Stafford loans DO begin to accumulate interest immediately, no?</p>
<p>This difference is the reason we are using Perkins but not Stafford.<br>
Might as well leave the money in the bank and collect the interest and then use it after school's over to pay back Perkins.</p>
<p>Subsidized staffords accumulate interest immediaitely, but the govt. pays it until 6 months after school is over...Perkins is the same but it requires repayment to start 9 months after school is done...Also, Perkins is smaller amounts (2000=perkins vs. 2650=stafford (first year))...good luck!</p>
<p>With the package our son was offered, though, there was no commitment on the uni's or govt.'s part to the proportion of Stafford loan which woud be subsidized vs. unsubsidized, and the unsubsidized portion--whatever it turned out to be AFTER he accepted it--would have cost HIM money starting from Day One. He knows that the Perkins will cost him nothing until after graduation. That's worth knowing --and rejecting if one can.</p>
<p>Overall, I am told Perkins is the safer bet. Perkins is fixed at a 5% interest rate. Although the interest rate is low right now, 2-3%, it is supposed to increase by the time we 2009'ers get up there, what with the record low interest rates years past (can't always be low, now has to go back up) & the Fed annoucing inflationary worries (likely to raise the rates). So between the two, that is why I am doing Perkins...</p>
<p>Here is a nifty chart comparing some different kinds of loans:
<a href="http://salliemae.collegeanswer.com/paying/content/pay_under_fed_cmp.jsp%5B/url%5D">http://salliemae.collegeanswer.com/paying/content/pay_under_fed_cmp.jsp</a></p>
<p>Onto some other comments:</p>
<p><a href="2000=perkins%20vs.%202650=stafford%20(first%20year)">quote</a>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Mmm...?? I have a perkins for 2,650 from one or more of my schools. 0-o</p>
<p>
[quote]
there was no commitment on the uni's or govt.'s part to the proportion of Stafford loan which woud be subsidized vs. unsubsidized, and the unsubsidized portion--whatever it turned out to be AFTER he accepted it
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Isn't the school package supposed to say whether it is subsidized vs. unsubsizided?</p>
<p>Ours said it was a combination but failed to specify how much was which. I did find that odd. It's the reason our son isn't taking the loan. And our Perkins was over $2K as well. The Stafford was the one that was $2650. Our Perkins is $3K.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies.<br>
ctymom: Our paperwork specifically listed subsidized vs unsubsidized with the unsubsidized area blank. Previously, our other daughter had it listed just as Stafford but on the side had a code as to indicate subsidized or unsubsidized.<br>
Our Perkins is also $3000 and a chart said a total of $20,000 for the four years of undergraduate as a possible maximum. The Stafford went from 2650, 3550, 5550, 5500, (? not sure of exact increments but up to a maximum of $23,000 I believe.)
I think we will probably go with the Perkins also. We were burned with our home equity line of credit with variable interest rates. We are to the point now that we are considering refinancing to pay that off since the ceiling on that can go as high as 9 per cent. Of course when it started at 3.75 we foolishly never dreamed it would go that high.
gphoenix: thanks for the link.</p>