Student Loans
A student loan is the one big loan people sign before they've ever had a paycheck. The order of operations matters more than anywhere else in borrowing: free money first, federal before private, and never borrow more than the plan can repay.
Where are you right now?
The right next step depends on where you are. Read the framing, then follow the steps from your spot.
What's in the bay today? Planning how to pay for school — or already carrying loans that are giving you trouble?
The path, in order
Follow from your starting point. Each step is one decision, explained plainly.
Price the whole job first
Total cost isn't tuition — it's tuition, fees, housing, food, books, and transportation, times the years you'll be enrolled, with costs rising each year. Price the full build before deciding how to finance it; a school's sticker price and your net price after aid are different numbers.
Read the full answerFile the FAFSA — it's the gateway to everything
The FAFSA is the single form behind federal grants, work-study, federal loans, and most state and school aid. It produces your Student Aid Index (SAI) — the number aid offices use to size your package. File it even if you think you won't qualify; many families guess wrong, and some aid requires the form regardless of need.
Read the full answerTake the free money before borrowing a dollar
Work the order: grants (need-based, no repayment), scholarships (merit or niche, no repayment), work-study (a job, not a debt) — and only then loans. Every scholarship dollar is a dollar you never pay interest on. Legitimate scholarships never charge application fees.
Read the full answerIf you borrow: federal first, private last
Federal student loans carry fixed rates, income-driven repayment options, and forgiveness paths that private loans don't. Exhaust federal eligibility before touching private loans, and treat a private loan as the financing of last resort, compared across at least three lenders on APR.
Read the full answerBorrow to a plan, then close the deal
A working rule of thumb: total borrowing across all years shouldn't exceed your realistic first-year salary in the field you're entering. Compare award letters line by line (a 'grant' and a 'loan' can be formatted to look alike), and understand what you're signing — rates, fees, and when repayment starts.
Read the full answerIf you hit trouble
The common snags on this path, and where they turn.
You can't make your payments
Federal loans have income-driven repayment plans that resize the payment to your earnings, plus deferment and forbearance for rough stretches. Call the servicer before you miss a payment — options shrink after default. Fix →
Your loans are in default
Federal default has exit ramps — rehabilitation and consolidation can restore good standing and stop wage garnishment. It's recoverable, but the paperwork order matters. Fix →
You're chasing forgiveness (PSLF or otherwise)
Public Service Loan Forgiveness has strict requirements on loan type, repayment plan, employer, and payment count — and most denials are paperwork problems. Certify your employment annually, not at the end. Fix →
The award letter doesn't add up
Schools format aid letters inconsistently — loans can be listed like gifts. Rebuild the letter yourself: free money, then loans, then the gap you'd pay out of pocket. Fix →
Problems with a loan servicer? File with the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. Federal loan questions go to studentaid.gov; your school's financial aid office is the front door for award and FAFSA issues.
Scholarship and aid scams
No legitimate scholarship charges a fee to apply, and no legitimate service can 'guarantee' aid or file the FAFSA better than you can for free. Application fees, guarantees, and requests for bank information to 'hold' a scholarship are the three tells. The FAFSA itself is free at studentaid.gov — anyone charging to file it is selling you your own paperwork.