borrower benefits... what to look for?

BoxingTheStars · Jan 31, 2008

So I'm trying to get a heads-up on all this loan stuff ahead of time, and I've been advised from one school to check out the borrower benefits that lenders may offer for the federal loans. Just wondering, what kind of benefits should I be looking for? For example, I've seen:
-offers for no fees (vs the 1% or 4% they can take out?)
-interest rate %age reduction at first payment
-interest rate %age reduction at first dispersement
-interest rate %age reduction for signing up for auto-payments
-principal %age reduction after 4 years of ontime payments
-extra months after grace/graduation where you don't have to make payments

any thoughts? suggestions of lenders people have used & liked are also welcome...

Doctor Bagel · Jan 31, 2008

My one suggestion is to wait a while before picking a lender because the lenders might be changing their incentives soon. There's talk that lenders will generally be cutting back on the incentives shortly because of the new financial aid legislation and companies like Sallie Mae basically tanking right now.

For me, I don't like fees so I go for lenders that don't charge them. Also, I don't like the incentives to be tied in to making x many on-time payments because you can lose those quite easily by slipping up just one month (and we're going to be busy people, so slipping up might just happen). I'm currently with Northstar because they fit my current criteria.

borrower benefits... what to look for?

BoxingTheStars

chase this light with me

Doctor Bagel

so cheap and juicy

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