Perkins Loan Counseling
What is Perkins Loan Counseling?
It is required by law that all students that receive a Perkins loan must undergo Perkins loan counseling. Perkins loan counseling will involve both entrance and exit loan counseling. This counseling will impart important information on Perkins loans and your rights as a student borrower. Furthermore, counseling also highlights your responsibilities and requirement to pay back the Perkins loan, as stated in the Perkins master promissory note agreement.
First comes the Perkins entrance loan counseling. You have to complete this course every academic year that you are awarded a Perkins Loan. Remember, that when you apply for a federal loan on your own, you have to reapply for the FAFSA for every academic year. This information is so important that students will not even be allowed to use their Perkins loan until this counseling requirement is met. Next comes the Perkins exit loan counseling requirement. This requirement shall be met near the end of the term when the student expects to graduate. The requirement must be fulfilled, even if the student is not graduating and is withdrawing from schooling. All requirements related to entrance and exit counseling is required.
Counseling will center on managing finances both during college and after graduation. This is very important because statistics show that more and more college students are arriving at the school already thousands of dollars in debt, usually due to credit cards. The student may understand the idea of repayment, subsidizes loans and deferred payments-but does he or she really have a plan on what to do when the time for payment comes? Is there any guarantee that the student will find a high paying job that can pay off this type of loan?
You may have options for debt relief even if you can’t find the right job to immediately pay off your bills. For instance, there is the option of debt forgiveness, where the student performs volunteer work in order to earn some credit toward debt repayment. Debt consolidation involves stretching out the loan over a period of time.
The worst option is to drop out of college, so eliminate that plan right now! Even if you do drop out of college you will still be obligated to pay off the full cost of the education. Don’t let debt conquer your spirit and shatter your dreams of a better life. Perkins loan counseling can help you plan for the future.