This article is intended for the more than 50% of college students who need some kind of assistance with paying for college. If you’re like over half of all college students, though, finding good loans for school tuition is essential once you’ve exhausted savings, grants, and scholarships.
Before we explore some of the better loans for school, let’s analyze a few of your worst options for covering your college education.
Some Poor Choices
First off, since they are so widely used: credit cards. True, they are quick and convenient. Also they can help you out in a pinch. Realistically, you have to have them to function in our society. Try renting a car or making an online purchase without one! But seriously, for financing your tuition? Only consider them if you have a rock-solid plan to pay them back. Otherwise, credit cards can annihilate you with oppressive interest rates, late charges and over limit penalties.
Another horrible source of funds is check cashing stores. When you look at the annualized interest rates they are charging, it will take your breath away! Seriously, if you use these often enough you may never recover. Be honest with yourself, if you don’t have the money right now, what makes you think you’ll have it in 2 weeks? Stay clear of these places!
So how about gambling? There are lots of tempting games: poker, roulette, one-armed bandits, dice, horse/dog races, and of course the lottery. The fact is, gambling is very profitable if you’re a casino owner. For you, though, this is just a really bad habit to get into. It won’t pay your tuition. Don’t waste your time (and money).
Then there are title loans, where you sign over the title to your car as collateral for the loan. Typically, you will only get a fraction of the car’s value, and the interest rate is quite high. Many borrowers then find they are unable to repay the loan, and lose their car. If you are willing to give up your car for much less than what it’s worth, why don’t you just sell the car and bank all the cash? At least you’ll earn some interest instead of paying it.
» Read more: Loans For School – Finding the Right Education Loans