Fed Financial

What can you tell me about the astrive loan for college?

Well, I don't have a whole lot of time right now to look into this question, but my son is pestering me about his hopes of getting an astrive student loan for school. He would rather not work and just study to maintain his 3.8-4.0 GPA. I don't have a lot of money and have a difficult time making ends meet. My son does not want to work nor have a car; he does not want anything. He would rather just go to school and do well. He mentioned the astrive loan. I work six to seven days a week. Right now, I don't have too much time to investigate. I thought I would first read the responses from Yahoo then start looking into myself. Could I have your thoughts on this?

Public Comments

1. I would stay away from Astrive, or dedicate time to fully look into it and read the small print. This seems to be a new trend, companies capitalizing on broke college students. Astrive may have an extremely high interest rate since it is a private loan company. I haven't heard of them until now seeing the commercials on TV. Your safe bet is to fill out the FAFSA and see what they give you. It's reliable, easy, and most of the time you get something out of it. If you are already using the FAFSA then look into Sallie Mae or the Parent PLUS loan. Sallie Mae is really good as most of my friends use Sallie Mae. Parent PLUS loan is good because it is extra money, however the parent must apply for it and payments start immediately (unlike six months after you graduate). Look into the Astrive loans. I haven't investigated it because I don't trust it and I receive Stafford loans and grants. Hope this helps!
2. Your son should exhaust all free financial aid resources first. He can complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid at www.fafsa.ed.gov. This application is the first step in applying for financial aid. From there, he can work directly with the financial aid office of the College or University that he plans to attend to determine what other types of FREE financial aid that he can qualify for. He can also look for scholarships at www.fastweb.com. There are a multitude of free resources for students to help pay for their higher education. Once he has identified the free (grants or scholarships that he DOES NOT have to repay) resources, he can then apply for a Stafford Loan through the College or University. The Stafford Loan is a federally backed student loan. (This is not a credit-based loan.) The Astrive loan is a private, credit-based loan that is through First Marblehead Corporation. Private, or commonly referred to as alternative, loans should be considered only as a LAST RESORT. Most public institutions will discourage a student from applying for an alternative loan. (For more info, visit their site at www.getastriveloan.com.) If he is attending a public University or College, he should be able to work within the parameters of the Federal Financial Aid Programs. Please encourage him to work within these programs and talk to a Financial Aid Counselor at his University or College. Good luck. Lori
3. He needs to stay away from private student loans and DO NOT cosign for him, no matter what he says. Private student loans have higher interest rates, substandard terms, and higher destination fees and such. He needs to do federal student loans like Stafford loans. If it's not enough for him to have pocket money, then he can get a part time job.. it isn't going to kill him.