<p>My D's were offered sub Staffords at several of the schools that included loans in their package.
At a school that does not include loans in their package, we were told that they could get the same amount of sub Staffords as at the other schools and Perkins as well.</p>
<p>Is it an institution by institution thing or a federal eligibility thing or both? And should we ask for Perkins loans at the schools that only mentioned Staffords?</p>
<p>Perkins loans are federally funded but the schools determine who will be awarded these loans. Typically they go to lower income students for THAT school. Also schools receive limited funds for Perkins loans and these are first come/first served…so in most cases, there is probably NOT any Perkins Loans money left to award.</p>
<p>It is very possible that you could be deemed eligible for a Perkins Loan at one school but not at others. </p>
<p>You can certainly ask about Perkins loans but it is very likely that those funds are long gone for the upcoming school year.</p>
<p>We found it varied school to school. My son was only offered a Perkins at Connecticut College 5 years ago and we were told he was considered one of the “poorer” ones because so many students there were paying most or all the tuition. They had the money, just didn’t have enough students to give it too.
My daughters were offered Perkins at 2 colleges out of 7 or 8 colleges. My son who is in grad school, was offered one this year, but not last year, which was his first year there. His EFC was 0 both times.</p>
<p>The Perkins program is scheduled to expire at the end of the 2011-2012 year. The current proposal is to restart it, but with 6.8% interest rates.</p>
<p>There seems to be no guiding rule as to what schools get Perkins or Seog monies. Apparently it is up to the school to some degree. There really is no rule as to how it has to be distributed though guidelines say it should go to the most needy and start with PELL eligible students.</p>
<p>Thanks! This totally clarifies it for me!</p>
<p>Perkins has extremely limited funding. A school has only $xxx to award and once it has been awarded they have no more. A school sets their own criteria for awarding it. There are usually more eligible students for the campus based federal programs (Perkins, WS, and SEOG).than there are funds.</p>
<p>That makes sense that the campus’s with more affluent students have more to give to “middle-class” students than others.
I will tell my son to lock in his perkins for 2011-2012 just in case they do go up, I think it’s 5% now with an extra 3 months before you have to start paying them back.</p>
<p>Interesting. My son had a Perkins loan for freshman year and a Stafford loan for sophomore year. I never asked about the switch and the school never offered any explanation. I was just happy to have any low interest loan!</p>
<p>Perkins used to be the best loan as with a 5% interest rate it was better than the sub Staffords. The current year and upcoming year the interest rates on the Sub Stafford interest rates are better than the Perkins. </p>
<p>Will be interesting to see what the 2012-2013 year brings. Glad we will be done.</p>
<p>Federal Perkins Loan Teacher Cancellation
You qualify for cancellation (discharge) of up to 100 percent of a Federal Perkins Loan if you have served full time in a public or nonprofit elementary or secondary school system as a
teacher in a school serving students from low-income families; or
special-education teacher, including teachers of infants, toddlers, children, or youth with disabilities; or
teacher in the fields of mathematics, science, foreign languages, or bilingual education, or in any other field of expertise determined by a state education agency to have a shortage of qualified teachers in that state.</p>
<p>Eligibility for teacher cancellation is based on the duties presented in an official position description, not on the position title. To receive a cancellation, you must be directly employed by the school system. There is no provision for canceling Perkins Loans for teaching in postsecondary schools.
Note that you also qualify for deferment while you’re performing teaching service that qualifies for cancellation. Contact the school that holds your loan for information on applying for deferment.</p>
<p>Swimcatsmom, that’s why this year, I told my daughters to take out the sub stafford in full even if they don’t need too (but I think they will) because the parent loan is 6.8. I paid off one sub loan for my son because it was cheaper than the 8.5 rate for parents loan during his junior year.</p>
<p>I think when they offer it one year, then not the second, there were probably new freshman that needed it more.</p>