How can I get the most legal student loan money?
Oct 24th, 2008 by admin
I’m a 4th year senior at Auburn and I want to take out a lot more than my tuition amount in student loans. What is the best legal way to do this while still taking out STUDENT loans - not just a signature or collateral loan.
I’m thinking it’s a combo of private, staffords, and auxillary, but I am just trying to figure out the best and legal way to get…say… $25,000.
fyi tuition is 5k a year
I guess I should be more specific, I have an opportunity to have up to 30k in student loans paid off for me, but I paid for most of my college in cash already. I need this money to exist in student loans so I can be repaid and my loans paid off for me. Not to be rude, but I did not want financial advise.
You can legally qualify for thousands of dollars as a result of your FAFSA results. You can visit your College Financial Aid Office and inquire about more student loan money. However, I would strongly caution you about taking out a huge loan… like $25,000. Sure, it’s low-interest and you’ll have plenty of time to pay it off. But why start out with even more debt. You’d do better to have as little debt as possible. Consider what your debt payments will be to eliminate that $25,000 (plus the other amounts you owe). Now instead of paying off debt, wouldn’t it be great if you invested that same amount of money in mutual funds and other investments to build a portfolio of assets rather than debts? If you can invest $25,000 before you’re 30, you’d be surprised how much you’d have by retirment… and that’s if you never put in another dime. Any brokerage company or bank can show you the exact calculations… it’s always better to hear that kind of information from the source.
The amount of loan money that you can receive is directly proportional to your school’s cost of attendance (COA) for the packaging group you are in and other aid you are receiving. Cost of attendance includes tuition, room and board, transportation, books, fees, and miscellaneous expenses. It is calculated annually by the director of Financial Aid based upon the actual costs.
For example, if your school’s COA for the group you are in is $15,000 and you are already receiving $5,000 in financial aid, then by federal law, the school is only allowed to give you up to $10,000 in loans. If you reduce your grants and scholarships (which would be foolish), then you could increase your loans up to the COA.
If you try to take out more loan money than you are allowed and succed (which can be rare), than the school will nevertheless have to return the overage to the lender to bring you back down to your COA to be in compliance with federal regulations.
Hope that helps.