The Little Web Review

Private Student Loans and Other College Funding Options.

Private student loans have gotten a bad rap lately. Legislators have focused on some extreme cases of borrowers who have gotten in over their heads, but for the most part, private student loans can come through where Federal student loans and grants leave off.

Federal grants and scholarships are always the best route to go when financing your college education. Grants and Scholarships are completely free money that you don’t ever have to repay. If you’re eligible for grants and scholarships, best advice is get as many of them as you can.

Federal student loans are also desirable, but federal loans are still loans. You will have to pay back the money borrowed once you graduate, unless you meet the requirements for student loan forgiveness, which is hard. Federal student loans are good though, better if they’re subsidized, but not a bad deal in the long run and should always be the next option after you’ve exhausted your grant and scholarship opportunities. The disadvantage of federal student loans is that federal loans have lifetime lending caps. Once you’ve borrowed the maximum, you’re done with federal aid. Until recently, the lending caps haven’t been adjusted in a very long time, so if you must borrow your way through school, you will run out of funding (especially, with the continuous increases in college tuition every year).

In addition, Federal student loans only cover “eligible expenses.” They can’t be used for living expenses, so again, if you’re borrowing your way through college, you can’t exclusively depend on federal student loans.

However, once your federal aid is used up, you should then look into a private student loan. Private student loans may help bridge the gap between federal aid options and what your college education actually costs. Private college loans don’t operate like Federal student loans do. There are no caps on interest rates, but then again, the caps on lending is a lot higher than federal aid. This should definitely cover any additional expenses you face in college.

The best approach to financing your college education will come from balancing your “financial aid portfolio” with grants, scholarships and federal student loans. Use private student loans to make up the difference. If you search cautiously, you will find private student loans that offer great borrower benefits and good terms. Private lenders are also free to offer programs that you won’t find with lenders in the Federal student loan programs.

Based on this, don’t write off private lenders because of horror stories you may have heard or read about. Balance your financial aid, and use private student loans to cover what your federal aid package can’t.

December 27th, 2007

Toll free numbers and authority

They are all around us and we cannot avoid them, but toll free numbers can be a great thing to have especially if you are in college like I am and need to be reached at all times. Now let me be clear, toll free numbers are not for those who do not get nor expect to get many phone calls from friends and family near or far away. They are also ideal for persons who own and operate their own business.
In order to come to a final decision about whether or not you should get prepaid toll free numbers there are some things you need to consider.

Benefits of having a toll free number
If you run a business whether large or small a toll free number will be a way for your customers to get in touch with your business and not have to pay for the call. This has a way of making your company seem credible as customers will feel that customer service is important to your business.
It is possible to reserve your toll free number and then have it activated when you want. The rates are usually very good running at about $0.40 per minute which is a good rate for persons who are college students. One feature that will be a hit with us college students is the ability to forward incoming calls to any phone we desire and this also applies to overseas locations. So whether you are in the U.S. or in Jamaica on vacation you can have your call put through to where you are located.
When you get 800 toll free numbers or any of the other prefix numbers such as 888, 887 or 886 it is easy to use and you are well aware as to the costs and you will not be getting any strange bills in your mail.
Another set of benefits with some providers, that you should look for and take advantage of, is no credit check needed, no installation nor long term contracts or penalties if you decide to cancel.

Disadvantages of having a toll free number
If you run a business the main drawback will be those unnecessary calls some customers tend to make. This wastes your staff’s time when they could be dealing with real customer problems.
If you are in college then it will be just about the same problem, unnecessary calls from your friends. This will cost you a bit as most toll free numbers are prepaid.
Finding a provider

You can get toll free numbers from any of the many providers online or through other similar type service providers. Make sure they provide you with the benefits and costs that suit your present needs and situation.

December 18th, 2007