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Student Loans Help & Advice

Finance is a big issue for students and paying for your tertiary Education will more than likely be the biggest financial burden you will have ever encountered. Something new to consider is your credit rating or credit history. A poor credit history can adversely affect your student loan application. Some lenders will look at your credit history; some don’t. It all depends on what kind of student loan you apply for. So, if you have a poor credit history, look into student loans that don’t consider your credit report or credit score a top requirement. The first thing to do is see what sort of assistance is available as there are many ways to approach this, below are a few options:

Government Loans

some countrys provide government assistance and reduced rate loans to students such as Australia's Commonwealth support system known as HECS or the Higher education Commonwealth Support, HECS-HELP (Higher education Loan Program) as well as FEE-HELP ( For fee-paying students to cover there tuition fees) and OS-HELP (For undergraduate commonwealth-supported students who are studying abroad) are deffered payment arrangements with a maximum borrowing of roughly $80 000 for most courses. In America there are two types government loans one can take, Subsidized Loans (which means the government pays the interest while you're in school) and Unsubsidized loans (which means interest starts accruing as soon as you get the loan although your payments may not be due until you graduate). If you qualify for a subsidized loan there are two types: Perkins loans, which are for students with exceptional financial need or Stafford loans which are generally at a higher fixed interest rate. With only a six-month grace period before having to begin payments on their loans, it is critical for graduates to quickly begin earning a steady income. Graduates are faced early-on with some of the tough financial realities of the real world.

However one should realise that once you take out student loans, the debt can follow you for life. Student loan debts typically cant be erased in bankruptcy court. However, under certain circumstances, the federal government will cancel all or part of an educational loan. This practice is called Loan Forgiveness. To qualify, you must either perform volunteer work, perform military service, teach or practice medicine in certain types of communities or meet other criteria specified by the forgiveness program.

A survey administered by the scholarship-matching website FastWeb found that nearly half of student loan applications are being denied. According to the survey, one of the primary reasons students borrow private loans is because they have maxed out the federal Stafford Loan.

Private / Bank Loans

if you dont meet the criteria or your country doesnt provide govenment assistance you can also take a loan from a bank, you may also take an additional loan from a bank if your HECS scheme doesnt provide enough for your course or general living expenses. Interest rates are generally a lot higher than government loans and one needs to be careful to not fall into a financial trap, just because you can borrow doesnt mean you should. You should generally limit you debt so that your loan repayments after you graduate dont take up no more than 10% of your expected monthly income.

Additional Government Assistance

Some countrys provide a youth or student allowance to encourage teenagers to enter higher education, check to see if your government provides such assistance.

Institution Assistance / Bursaries

A bursary is non-repayable support available from your university or college which is available to a wide range of students. You need to check what is on offer and how you can claim this additional support. Universitys in England will offer at least a minimum bursary payment if you’re getting the full Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant. Grants and bursaries don’t have to be repaid.

Student Credit Cards

A student credit card brings newfound freedom, but it also brings new responsibility. It is your responsibility to maintain good standing with your credit card company by paying your bill on time (as well as making much more than the minimum payment).

Repayment Advice

If you have several different types of debt — say, a credit card balance on a card with a 17% interest rate, a car loan with a 12% rate, and a student loan at 9% — pay off the loan with the highest interest rate first. Some lenders offer an interest rate reduction if you pay your loan payments electronically. It may be only a 1/4 point, but bears checking out. Some loans will allow an even greater reduction after a few years of on-time payments. If you're in way over your head, debt consolidation is a viable option. You have to understand though that there is a tradeoff of easing your current pain. Due to the current credit crunch there are fewer programs which allow borrowers to consolidate their private student loans on the market today and the interest rates on the underlying loans remain variable. Most private education loan programs have multiple repayment options which could decrease your monthly payments but we advise you to check with your current lender or loan servicer. These programs give borrowers the ability to temporarily decrease their monthly payments for a given period of time. Other alternatives to refinancing private education loans would be through an outside line of credit or a home equity loan.