If you or a member of your family is planning to go to college, you probably should consider taking a college loan. There are several ways to put together financing for college and there are also several financial sources you can combine when you need a college or student loan.

The expenses for studying varies from school to school. Some schools might be so expensive that you might have to take out more than one loan. However, college financing is cheap compared with private loans and as a student, you can also take advantage of school based financial aid, scholarships and grants.

If you havent already decided which school or schools you are interested in and are going to apply to, you should make a list of

• colleges that interest you (Harward, Standford, Johns Hopkins or others)

• colleges that you are likely to get into

How much do you need?

Like I said above, since the cost varies between schools, the college that you choose to go to will what determines how much money Youll need to apply for. Here is what you should do: Add together;

• fees

• tuition

• other school expenses (for example housing, food, transportation, books, lab fees and other relevant expenses)

• deduct money you might have saved for college.

This should give you a good estimate of the student loan youll need to apply for. Once again as mentioned, college as well as all federal loans are cheap;

• Low interest rates

• you can wait to start paying them off until after your graduation.

Some types of student loans

Stafford Loans

These loans are meant for graduates and undergraduates and have a subsidized as well as an unsubsidized variant. The first means that interest doesnt start to accrue before you begin to pay back your loan. Unsubsidized means that interest takes effect immediately.

Plus Loans

are targeted to parents of undergraduates

Private college or student loans

Private loans should only be applied for, If you need additional funds.

If you put some time into applying for different scholarships and there are lots of them you may be able to finance your college experience without having to take out such big loans, or maybe even no student loans at all.