William D. Ford Direct Student Loan Program

The direct student loan program began about 15 years ago and should cut the man a half so that instead of involving banks, credit unions and other private lenders, loans of money from the federal government directly to students and parents.

Direct loan programs overlap in the alternative, to be called FFELP or Federal Family Education Loan Program, which is a program designed to be a network of private lending institutions work. Since direct loansPrograms duplicate in many ways the programs ffel is important to select the desired program. Both programs offer both Stafford and PLUS loans.

The eligibility criteria for both programs is the same, and need to follow the same guidelines and requirements the same credit as they are not necessary basic programs. Since both programs are essentially the same debt raises the obvious question, how to choose between them.

At oneLevel of decision involves the selection, there are two providers face. For example, although both have the staff to customer service answered all the questions, in some cases, you may find that private lenders will be more useful and flexible, while the government is indifferent or more bureaucracy. This is not always the case, of course, and sometimes it turns out that exactly the opposite is true.

One of the best ways to get a feel for the service you receiveprobably from different lenders receive, are a few internet forums, to read with students on loans. Even with the enormous growth of social networks in recent years has become much easier to find a wide range of views. Of course, you must be careful because many of the opinions expressed on the personal taste of objective criteria, but read the post quickly shows that favors the page poster.

However, there are some moreconcrete differences between the two types of loans. For example, why FFELP loans funded by private financial institutions and the organization with which you can not change the organization is waiting for reimbursements. This is a common practice these days for lenders to sell to "make" loans to other companies in the same, as most mortgage lenders.

This is an important aspect, because you could go to the troubleFinding a lender you like, just choose the interest rate on the loan and repayment terms, preferring their customer service, only to discover that your loan is sold on the Internet and you are dealing with a company that had previously rejected. In the case of direct loans, however, because the loans are not sold by the federal government does not enter into this problem.

Perhaps the biggest difference for most of lenders, however, the difference between the rates of interestTerms of repayment and expenses between the two. You must remember that while interest rates on Stafford loans and PLUS officially established private lenders have a certain degree of flexibility in other areas.

One could, for example, if the cost is the origin and insurance, which currently are valued at 3% and 1%, according to federal standards. While absorbing these costs, or loans that private lenders could be used to agree that in order to get yourBusiness. It could change a template, choose the dates interest is calculated, both for the extension or an extension or increase the amount of reimbursement.

Discover at the end of the day the only way to know what is available is to look around in the same way as you would if you are looking for any type of loan.