Perkins Loans Tweet

What are Perkins Loans?

Perkins Loans are Federal or Government Loans which are only available to the most needy students in the United States.

To find out if you are eligible for a Perkins Loan, you must fill in and submit a FAFSA, that is a Free Application for Federal Student Aid and is used to determine which forms of federal aid you are entitled to.

The big advantage of the Perkins Loan is that the interest rate, which is fixed, is very low, at 5%.

To qualify, as well as demonstrating serious financial need, students must be enrolled at least half time at their college and must be elligible according to the citizenship rules and have no existing unpaid loan debts.

If you think you might be elligible for a Perkins Loan, you should contact the financial aid office at your college to get additional advice and you must make sure you get your application in on good time.

 Perkins Loans are available to both undergraduate and graduate students and there is an upper limit which can be applied for each year and an upper total. Loans are applied for on an annual basis and are adminstered by the individual colleges. This means that your elligibility is reassessed every year you apply for a loan.

To sum up:
 
Federal Perkins Loans are:

  • Made via participating colleges to students who are undergraduates,
  graduatse or professionals.

  • They are offered to those students who
  are in the most financial need (Federal Pell
  Grant recipients get top priority).

  • They are available to both full and part time students

source:http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/funding/PerkinsLoanInfo.pdf

Another advantage of a Perkins Loan is that you don't have to start paying back until nine months after graduation, which gives you time to get on your feet financially.

In certain cases of extreme financial hardship, you may be permitted to defer repayment of the loan. It is also possible to consolidate your perkins loan with other federal loans such as Stafford Loans, making it easier to repay the loan and extending the repayment period.

As with all loans, it is important to check the details with the relevant colleges and government offices, to make sure that you have the most up to date information.