The loan amount the government will award you depends on your EFC (estimated family income). When you or your family receive W-2’s in January, you need to fill out a FAFSA and return to the government. They use it to determine how much money to award you in loans, grants or both. A student with a small income will get more money from the government than a student with parents with large incomes.

Loans offered by the federal government usually are repaid in monthly payments, beginning 6 months after you graduate or drop out of school. Many private loans let you defer payments as well, but they charge much higher interest rates. Avoid private loans if possible.

The Pell Grant and the federal work study program programs are money you money you do not have to repay after college. However, the federal money tends to be a lot smaller than what you could get from private student loan lenders like Astrive. The problem with taking a lot of money out in student loans is it could hamper you with your job search after college graduation because there is a growing trend with credit checks. Also, a large amount in student loans could hamper your independence once you graduate from college with your degree because of the payments. I recommend searching for outside scholarship money no matter what amount (using more than one search source) along with participating in the campus work study program. The student loan pay back begins 6 months after college graduation or you stop attending school. I will include some free resources below which can help you. Good luck!

The Loans you get from the Government are usually smaller amounts than direct Grands. I believe all “Student loans” are re-payable after you graduate. A garnt does not have to be paid back in most cases.

Government grants do NOT have to be paid back. They are free sources of money you are rewarded, and you can use them to pay for school. You usually won’t receive as much grant money as you would a student loan, but if you get many grants you can cover the cost.

Always apply for grants first. You just need to complete the FAFSA to see if you are eligible for aid. You can find it here:

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

Here are sites that offer grants:

FedMoney.org Home

http://www.freegovmoney.net/

http://www.grants.gov/

You can also apply for scholarships, which are also free to get and you don’t have to pay them back. You can read about them here:

http://www.studentfinancedomain.com/financial_aid/college_scholarship.aspx

Here are sites that offer scholarships:

http://www.findtuition.com/scholarships/

http://www.nextstudent.com/scholarship_search/scholarship_search.asp

http://www.brokescholar.com/

http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp

http://www.educationplanner.com/education_planner/paying_article.asp?sponsor=2859&articleName=Grants_and_Scholarships

http://www.studentawards.com/

http://www.college-scholarships.com/

Good luck!