<p>My son has a $3500 subsidized Stafford loan. First semester the school credited $1742 to his account. I understand the $8 they withheld was a “loan fee.” Now I am preparing to pay for second semester and I am wondering if they will again withhold $8 or was that an amount for the whole $3500? Can anyone tell me what percentage the fee is?</p>
<p>There used to be a 2-3% origination fee. Now I think there is just an 1% insurance fee.</p>
<p>The net loan fee is one-half percent. Multiply the loan amount by 0.995 to find out what the net loan disbursement will be (or multiply the loan amount by 0.005 to find out what the net loan fees will be!). Alternately, if you want to borrow just enough to cover a balance, divide by 0.995 … I used that trick with students all the time, because our bursar would waive late fees if aid (including Stafford loans) covered the entire balance, but charged the late fees if the aid was even $1 short.</p>