In the U.S., going through primary and secondary education is a walk in the park. Almost everything is being paid for by the government. However, once a student steps into college, things cannot be the same. That person, along with the parents, need to pay for his college tuition. This is where things can get a little rough. Most parents will have a hard time trying to find some financial aid for their children who are off to college. However, there is a silver lining for these things and that’s student loans. But, it is not that easy to find a financial institution especially through Federal financial aid. There are a lot of things that one needs to undergo before being granted student loans and that’s student loan counseling.
This type of counseling is actually a prerequisite for applying for student loans, that is, if one needs to obtain Federal financial support. If one pans to obtain private student loans from private financial institutions, they are not required to undergo this kind of counseling.
So, what’s student financial counseling and why it should be a requirement prior to applying for student loans?
Financial or loan counseling for students will help both students and parents understand the different requirements that they must fulfill in order to obtain financial loan and to further understand their student loan obligations. New information will be given to them about the different options on how to repay their loans and the computations of their interest based on the principal loan.
This way, everything will be understood and be written in black and white so as to prevent future misunderstandings of the said loan.
In order to ensure that both students and parents have understood their financial responsibilities towards the lender, they will undergo certain number of tests or examinations ranging from multiple choice exams to true-or-false questions.
Who are required to undergo student loan counseling?
Students who will be taking up any four-year-degree courses are required to undergo entrance counseling. If a borrower wishes to obtain Federal financial aid, he is also required to undergo entrance counseling.
Loans including student loans can be very beneficial to anybody as long as he or she is eligible. They just need to know first what their responsibilities are and the technicalities so that they won’t compromise their other obligations and concentrate more on their studies.