Who Is Eligible And What Are The Requirements To Apply?

To be eligible for U.S. financial aid and the federal student loan programs for international studying you must be a U. S. citizen, a U.S. permanent Resident (with appropriate CIS documentation), an eligible non-citizen (with appropriate documentation) and a citizen of certain Pacific Islands (the free associated states).

There are now over 200,000 citizens studying abroad each year, and this number continues to increase each year. You must be enrolled at least part time, in a degree-granting program, at an eligible institution abroad. Or you must be participating in a study abroad program sponsored or recognized by your eligible home institution in the U.S.

All foreign schools do not offer federal financial aid. The school must be accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and be eligible to participate in federal student aid programs. Federal financial aid is available only to students attending eligible institutions.

You can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) toll free to find out if a school is eligible and the number is: 800-4-FED-AID (433-3243). Also, check with your school to see if it participates. Also, if you try to apply online but your school isn’t on the list, contact Sallie Mae at their website and tell them the name and country of the school and ask for further assistance.

What Loans Are Available?

For the U.S. citizen or non-citizen permanent resident students enrolled in a degree-granting course of study at eligible institutions outside of the U.S. the following federal loans are available: Stafford loans, (subsidized and unsubsidized), Parent PLUS loans, Graduate PLUS loans, Global Health Education Loans Program.

U.S. federal aid at international institutions is available only in the form of Stafford and PLUS loans.

The following private loans are available: Signature Student Loans, MBA LOANS, Tuition Answer Loans, LAWLOANS, and Global Health Education Loan Program (GHELP).

Schools must be approved by the Department of Education to offer the private loans listed above. You cannot apply on any other private loan for yourself.

How Do I Begin?

Complete and submit the FAFSA. Next, obtain your Student Aid Report (SAR). We would recommend you wait at least 24-48 hours after filing your FAFSA online, then call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at (800) 4-FED-AID (433-3243) and ask to have the eight-page hard copy for the full SAR mailed to you.

When your FAFSA information is complete, your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) will be printed in the upper-right corner. Your EFC is based on the information you provide on the FAFSA; your school uses it to award your financial aid.

When they mail you the detailed SAR, it would be a good idea to keep a copy for yourself and then send the original to the school’s financial aid office for review. Then begin the loan application process.

The school in accordance with federal regulations sets disbursement dates of the loan. The first disbursement date on a federal loan cannot be any earlier than 30 days before the first day of the loan period. Checks will be made co-payable to the school and to you.
The checks will be sent to the school, unless they are requested otherwise.

Some institutions are required to delay delivery of federal funds to first-year undergraduates who are first-time borrowers.

Many students go through their youth with little desire to even consider reading a statement from their lender for their student loans.  This can be a dangerous decision because it can quickly sneak up on you and come to bite you in the rear.  I suggest that you take the time if you are in college now to pay attention to when you have to start paying your lender and how much.  If it has jumped on your back recently like a clinging monkey then you might need to take action immediately to get a good plan set up for your student loan repayment.

There are a couple simple things to find out to make sure that you can get on the right track to paying off your loans.

1. What is the loan classified as?

There are many types of loans that are out there and they all are going to have different requirements for you based on what terms they have established with the loan.  Many students will find American government funded loans such as the Sallie Mae, Stafford, Perkins, or PLUS loans. 

There are certain loans where you will have the full responsibility and then there are loans like the PLUS loan that is your parents obligation to repay.  If your parents have done that for you then I would suggest that you are a very lucky person.  I would look to do what you can to help pay for it in the future if you are able to create financial security in a short period after college.

There should be a thorough list of paperwork that you should keep by your organized in a file of some kind or typed up on to a computer.  Read through all of the terms to know when you have to start paying and how much is required of you.  Also get a good understanding of any penalties you may have for late payments, just to know what you would have to deal with and how short of a leash your lender has given you.

If you have lost the paperwork then contact the school’s financial aid office to get documentation on what you owe.  This information is easy to gather and shouldn’t take too long for you to get back on track if you have been a miserable mess for the past couple years.  If the school doesn’t have it then they will get you in touch with who does.  This is information that is your legal possession that you can always gain access to.

2. How much am I going to pay you?

When you apply for these loans there are decisions made by the Department of Education as to how much they can offer to your student situation.  They might give you more than you need or not enough and require you to go get another loan from another source.

You will receive statements probably at the end of each semester that you are in school giving you an understanding of how much you borrowed and how much you owe.  Keep these on file just in case if there are errors in their system as to what actually is going on.  This will save you a lot of time.

Make sure that you separate your forms from any scholarships that you may have received because there are plenty of documents out there from many different companies.  Make sure you know first if you are getting a Pell Grant or some kind of scholarship before you get a student loan and for how much because the last thing you want is to get a loan that you don’t need.

3. Who is it that I am paying back?

When you make a decision to go with a certain type of a loan you will also decide which bank you will lend from.  The bank usually will go through a thorough process and decide on how much to give you and then if they do pay you it will probably be on a semester basis until you are finished with school.  Make sure to stay in school if you can to avoid the messy idea of deferring payments.  Many students do it for plenty of solid reasons and it can be taken care of, but with some banks it can be a hassle.

The bank will sell off the loan to Sallie Mae to make more money and in turn you become the possession of Sallie Mae, which is the government established Student Loan Marketing Association.  This association was established to create more loan opportunities for students across the country and has been hailed as one of the best achievements in government action along with the creation student loans since in the 20th century.

Now there are going to be times when Sallie Mae will not only buy up the loan, but sell it to other companies and each time this transaction may happen with your loan, you will be notified so you know who it is that you are paying your bills to.  The terms and conditions will stay the same, but make sure to be on the ball because some companies may be less lenient then others.