Many college students graduate from college carrying a heavy load of debt. Why is this? College is expensive and college students and their parents are often not very knowledgeable about the best ways to finance the expense of college.

Many undergraduate students finish college with a four year degree AND a debt in the vicinity of $20,000. That’s over a 100% increase in debt compared to ten ago.

Students who go to two year schools often graduate with a debt of around $10,000.

Graduate students go on to borrow more money for college .The students who are the deepest in debt are those in law and medical school. They may be $100,000 in debt when they graduate.

As college and university prices go up – so does the amount of student debt.

It’s wise for both students and parents to use a service like www.TuitionChart.com. This website provides everything that college students and their families need to know about the best sources of financing available to them: federal loans, private student loans, scholarships, and/or grants. College students can enter their information into the site and they are quickly provided with information about lenders and other sources of financing that best fit their needs.

Students who make the mistake of not taking the time to understand their student loan options make several mistakes that can cost them a lot of money upon graduation.

First of all, many students fail to file a FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The FAFSA gives immediate access to any federal aid which a student may be eligible for. Filling out a FAFSA is also a necessity for financial aid packages for many colleges and universities. The FAFSA is a multi-page questionnaire that collects financial and other information from students and families and assesses the student’s financial need. Students that fail to fill out a FAFSA may be losing out on potential scholarship and loan opportunities. Statistics say that around 8 million eligible students a year fail to fill out a FAFSA form.

Students can end up taking numerous loans that all require repayment as soon as the student graduates.
Students and their families fail to look at federal sources of loans before they look at private lending. Federal student loans offer interest rates between 4.5 and 6.8% and are often more flexible about repayment when compared to private student loans.

Students and families who decide that private student loans are the best way to go, or who need a private loan in addition to federal loans and grants, often fail to spend time looking for the best deals possible.

The smartest thing that any student or prospective student and their family can do is to educate themselves about student funding before making any money decisions. This will save students a lot of headache and money in the long run.

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For more information about student loans please visit: http://tuitionchart.com/