<p>With all the negative news recently about kickbacks to colleges for loans, how do I know where to get a loan from? Does anyone have any suggestions of the best place to apply?</p>
<p>Your Stafford Loan will either come from a FFELP Lender or straight from the government, depending upon how the school is set up. Some schools do not have Direct Loan (government) processing abilities. If it is a FFELP lender, you will need to choose your lender from a HUGE listing of approved Title IV Lenders (there are currently several thousand approved lenders). Your school may or may not have a listing of preferred lenders...but current Federal Regulations state that you are free to choose any approved Title IV Lender.</p>
<p>As a Financial Aid Counselor, let me issue you one LARGE warning about choosing a lender other than a preferred lender: Your Loan funds can be delayed by at least several weeks due to a lack of agreement between the school and the lender regarding electronic funds transfers. IOW, your loan funds would be issued by paper check, made out to you and the school, and postal mailed to the school. The school will then require you to come to the FA Office and sign the check. The FA Office will then take the check to the Business Office to be deposited into their account. At that time, the funds would then become available on your student account. If the check gets lost in the mail betwen the lender's bank and the school, there is normally a wait time before the funds can be reissued. If time is not a concern, then choosing a lender whom the school does not have EFT agreement with doesn't matter.</p>
<p>You will also need to be careful when selecting a lender....do your homework. Read the lender's web site and fine print. Sometimes, the lender has many strings attached to repayment benefits that it is virtually impossible to earn them.</p>
<p>If you have a current bank you deal with, you can check with their main office and see if they hav ebeen approved (by the Federal Government) to offer Title IV Stafford Loans. If so, you can use them....since, hopefully, they have already earned your trust.</p>
<p>The timeline for applying to Stafford loans--D accepts her first choice---then I apply to a couple of banks---or does the school send in my FAFSA info---or? Thank you-</p>