The Department of Education offers financial assistance to disadvantaged students who would like to continue their education after high school. This department, also known as the Education Department (ED), offers Department of Education Student Loans, which allow the different schools and the different universities to team up with commercial lenders so that students and their families who wish to borrow money to pay for their postsecondary educations can be aided. Students can avail of subsidized types of loans and unsubsidized types of loans.
The department also offers student aid programs which don’t require repayments; these loans are called grants, and are awarded under the Office of Federal Student Aid (OFSA). The OFSA is governed by the ED. A student may receive a Federal Pell grant, a Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity (FSEO) Grant, an Academic Competitiveness (AC) Grant, or a Science and Math Access to Retain Training (SMART) Grant.
Undergraduate students whose incomes fall within the lower to middle income tiers are eligible for Pell grants. Schools and universities are the eligible recipients of FSEO grants which in turn will be handed down to their students as institutional awards. Undergraduate students who are enrolled full-time and who are in their freshman or sophomore years are eligible for the AC grants while junior level and senior level undergraduate students whose degrees are within the realm of science and of math, may receive the SMART grants.
In order to receive Department of Education Student Loans, individual have to fill out an application form. This application is called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. The FAFSA can be completed in two ways, manually through its printed form and automatically via its online version. When the kind of financial assistance program that you’re eligible to receive has been determined, you will have to compute for the amount of repayments that you will have to make, once you’ve completed your degree, if and when you graduate.
Student loans from the Department of Education have different loan terms and rates of interest attached to them. You should apply for a student loan that you feel you can efficiently pay without being at risk of turning out to be someone who defaults on his or her student loan debt repayments. Students may repay their debts as single loans or as consolidation loans, depending on the status of their current incomes at the scheduled time meant for the repayment of their debts.
The goal of these Department of Education Student Loans, which have been designed for the good of students at postsecondary levels and their families, is based on the government’s increasing desire to commit to its “No Child Left Behind Act of 2001”. The Department of Education challenges schools and universities to improve and to better their systems of education if they are to be granted government funding. It is not only the students who must strive to exhibit excellence in their learning as to be deserving of the aid that they receive from the federal government; the institutions through which students gain their education from are expected to exhibit the same quality.