AES Student Loans: Are They The Best Choice?

If you have been checking into student loans for any time at all, you may have heard about AES student loans. AES stands for American Educational Services, a division of PHEAA, The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. This agency has been operating since 1964. It is one of the major full-service financial aid organizations in the United States.
AES student loans that are currently available include Parent PLUS loans, Graduate PLUS loans, Stafford loans, and various Alternative loans.
The most popular of all the AES student loans is the Stafford loan program, and it offers these features:
* All federal Stafford loans disbursed between July 1, 2009, and July 1, 2010, are fixed at 6.8% except for the undergraduate subsidized Stafford loan, which carries a fixed rate of 5.6%.
* No co-signer is needed
* No credit check required
* No payments as long as you attend school at least half-time
* Subsidized interest payments for students who meet the income guidelines
* 6-month grace period after you leave school
* No penalties for paying your loan off early
* Take as long as 10 years to repay – longer with flexible repayment options
To assist parents wanting to pay for their child's education, there is the Parent PLUS program, which features:
* Fixed interest rate of 8.5%
* Borrow the difference between your child's cost of attendance and financial aid award
* No income requirements
* Poor credit? May still qualify with credit-ready endorser
* Payments on interest may be tax deductible
* No penalties for paying your loan off early
* Flexible repayment options
There are also AES student loans for graduate students who need to fill the gap between financial aid and school costs. This program is called the Graduate PLUS loan, and it features:
* Interest rate fixed at 8.5%
* Borrow the difference between your cost of attendance and financial aid award
* No required payments as long as you attend school at least half-time
* No income requirements
* Poor credit? May still qualify with credit-ready endorser
* Payments on interest may be tax deductible
* No penalties for paying your loan off early
* Flexible repayment options
After you have looked into and applied for grants and scholarships, received a federal Stafford and/or PLUS loan, and still are shy of covering all costs for college, AES offers Alternative loans that can supplement federal student aid to round out your college funding.
AES also handles federal loan consolidation. Federal student loan consolidation allows you to combine one or more existing student loans into a single new loan. If you're having trouble making your monthly student loan payments, then consolidation might be the right option for you.
If you're an undergraduate or a graduate student, with good credit or poor credit, it's very likely you'll find that one of the AES student loans fits your situation.