Many students have started, or returned, to university or college over the past few weeks. There have been many students with overpacked cars travelling up and down various highways across the country. Parents are in tears and celebrating their new freedom as the kids leave home.
With this new student experience comes, for many, the new experience of managing personal finances and balancing the financial bank books every month. Sadly with the lack of government funding available for many students there is often a need to investigate taking out a student loan and trying to establish what is the best one to take out. This confusion about trying to choose the best loan often continues the longer the student remains at university, this is because students are bombarded with adverts from numerous banks often implying that their personal loans are the best for them.
Assessing Student Loans
In trying to assess which is the best student loan, a student may wish to consider the following, when discussing with a professional independent advisor:
- What is the APR?
- What is the level of security or collateral required?
- What sIs there a minimum loan value?
- What is the minimum repayment period?
- What happens if repayments are missed?
- What is the small print?
It is always critical to seek a selection of independent professional advice and most universities and colleges provide this. In some circumstances students may find that the best personal loan may prove to be a loan from the Government, State or a family member.
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