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EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

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Make the Education Loan Process Better

The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is hoping you'll help with, and profit from, its “Know Before You Owe” initiative. The agency is helping the Department of Education gather feedback to improve the way schools communicate financial aid offers to students. With your and other students' input it is creating a "financial aid shopping sheet" which will allow students looking for the best deal on education loans to compare offerings from different lenders and loan packages from different schools.

For more information, go to Know Before You Owe: Student Loans and then provide your input.

Education Loan Sampler

There are many many different education loan programs available to all students. Some of them are:

Coast Guard Mutual Assistance Education Loan Program – offers financial assistance by providing eligible CGMA clients a loan up to $2,000 to assist with education expenses.
Federal Perkins Loan Program – provides low-interest loans to students who can demonstrate a need for financial assistance and who are enrolled at least half-time (and sometimes less than half-time) in regular programs of study at participating schools.
Stafford Loan Program – provides low-interest loans to undergraduate and graduate students attending accredited schools at least half-time.
PLUS (Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students) – enables parents to borrow money for each dependent undergraduate student enrolled in school at least half-time.
Loans for Disadvantaged Students – provide long-term, low-interest loans to full-time, financially needy students from disadvantaged backgrounds, to pursue degrees in allopathic medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, optometry, podiatric medicine, pharmacy, or veterinary medicine.
Health Professions Student Loan (HPSL) – provides long-term, low-interest loans to full-time, financially needy students to pursue degrees in dentistry, optometry, podiatric medicine, pharmacy, or veterinary medicine.
Primary Care Loans (PCL) – provide long-term, low-interest loans to full-time, financially needy students to pursue degrees in allopathic or osteopathic medicine.
Nursing Student Loan Program (NSL) – provides long-term, low-interest loans to students pursuing studies leading to degrees in nursing.

There are also a two programs available to uniformed personnel (regular, reserve, Public Health Service officers working with the Coast Guard, and retirees), civilian employees, and Auxiliarists. They are:

Supplemental Student Loan Program – a need’s-based loan of up to $700 provided by CGMA to supplement the Coast Guard’s Tuition Assistance program. This loan is available to all active duty personnel, retirees, reservists, Public Health Service officers working with the Coast Guard, civilian employees, and Auxiliarists. You can read more about this loan on CGMA's flyer.
Vocational & Technical Training Student Loan Program – a loan of up to $1,500 to eligible personnel pursuing a Department of Veterans Affairs- or Department of Education-approved vocational technical training program and who have a demonstrated need for financial assistance. Assistance is intended to help pay the cost of non-college courses that provide the technical knowledge and skills needed for entry into a specific career field. This loan is available to all uniformed personnel (regular, reserve, Public Health Service officers working with the Coast Guard, and retirees), civilian employees, and Auxiliarists. You can read more about this loan on CGMA's flyer.

A number of publications with information on loans are available in the ESO's office.

Student Loan Forgiveness

Starting within the next few years, you may qualify for forgiveness of the remaining balance due on your eligible federal student loans after you have made 120 payments on loans under certain repayment plans while employed full time by certain public service employers. Only non-defaulted loans made under the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program^SM are eligible for loan forgiveness.

The Direct Loan Program includes (but is not limited to) the following types of loans:

Federal Direct Stafford Loans (Direct Subsidized Loans)
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans (Direct Unsubsidized Loans)
Federal Direct PLUS Loans (Direct PLUS Loans, for parents and graduate or professional students)
Federal Direct Consolidation Loans (Direct Consolidation Loans)

“Public service”, for purposes of this program, includes employment by any federal, state, local, or tribal government entity (including the military, public schools and colleges, public child and family services agencies, and special governmental districts).

“Since borrowers must make 120 monthly payments on their eligible federal student loans beginning after October 1, 2007 before they qualify for the loan forgiveness, the first cancellations of loan balances will not be granted until October 2017.”

For more information about this program, go to the Department of Education’s web site.

Student Loan Consolidation

If you entered the Coast Guard with more than one student loan and are now paying them off, you might want to consider consolidating them so you only have one payment to make each month. Don’t just jump at the first loan consolidation company you see an ad for, however. First, check out the Department of Education’s web site on student loan consolidation.

And please start by reading the “Important Message” at the top of that page, concerning “a short term consolidation opportunity” available until 30 June 2012.

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Last Modified 03/27/2012