Student Loan Success

Paying for graduate school is always a trial. Mostly the stress is in the worrying and uncertainty that goes with this big endeavor. My first semester's bill is over fifteen thousand dollars. Now that is enough to raise a few eyebrows here and there. The biggest trouble is in navigating the system of loans and procedures. Once you go through this process in the end it all seems easy.

What I did.

Today it all came together. Finally I realized that I did not have to deal with the main financial aid office on the USC campus. Calling to the Health Science Financial Aid office is much easier than dealing with the computer phone system at the main campus. Finding a real live person on the other end of the telephone line is wonderful. Actually talking to someone really helped a lot. I did not realize that I had to MAIL the Master Promisory Note for the Stafford loan to the lender! The people down at the main financial aid office only told me to Fax it to them and they would take care of everything. Or at least that is what I heard them tell me when I finally got hold of a live voice. The person, Nana Porche was who I talked to at the Health Science Financial Aid office, was very helpful and got me all straightened out.

More loans available.

It was Nana at the HSC financial aid office that told me that I could apply for an additional $21,000.00 this year if I wanted. Really! The additional loan would be what they call a Signature Student Loan offered by Salle Mae. These monies would be divided into two semesters this first year. Now that is an idea.

I ran the second loan idea past my wife Jennifer and she just kind of looked sad before she just said no. This is a woman that does not want to get into debt for anything and would rather eat beans for two years than accrue debt. We discussed her prejudices and came up with a compromise. I think that the best thing for these student loans is to borrow only what you need and no more. So I signed up for additional monies from the Signature loan from Salle Mae that would cover the cost of the tuition that will not be paid by the Stafford loan. Originally we wanted to pay for the difference ourselves from savings. I personally would rather keep this money in savings as a reserve. I am not afraid of the student loans like my sweet wife seems to be.

For those that want to know about the Signature Loans, they are based on your credit scores and cost 3% after you graduate. The Salle Mae people tack on an additional 3% when you are done with school and begin paying the loan back. The interest rates are currently very low. This is reasonable I think. We may be able to pay off this Signature loan as a lump sum when I graduate or see if a future employer will pick it up. You never know, I have heard of several instances where employers picked up student loans as a sign on bonus. That sounds like a good plan to me. We will see about that one.

The good news is that now we can keep our money safe in its high yielding CD and only use it for emergencies. Yipeeee!