<p>In the spring term I’ll be attending a new university. As a transfer from a community college, I have almost no experience with the financial aid process. At my CC, I was a member of the honors program which covered the cost of my tuition and associated fees. I learned how to get books on the cheap and, as a result, have incurred no debt thus far.</p>
<p>I have a couple thousand dollars of unmet need to contend with. My new university’s financial aid office offered me a long list lenders. Some of them, like the benign sounding behemoth Sallie Mae, are familiar to everyone. Some are strangers to me.</p>
<p>My question is this: if I am looking for a relatively small loan (<$2500) is it better to go to my local bank or a big-time lender like Sallie?</p>
<p>Have you already borrowed the maximum for Stafford (federal) loans? (It sounds like you haven’t, so that’s why I’m bringing this up.) Anyone can get the unsubsidized ones, which have fixed interest rates of 6.8%. You just have to fill out the FAFSA to be able to get those.</p>
<p>There’s an annual borrowing limit ranging from $5,500 to $7,500 based on how many years you’ve spent in school.</p>
<p>You should really read this page:
[FinAid</a> | Loans | Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/loans/studentloan.phtml]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/loans/studentloan.phtml)</p>
<p>But to answer your question, sort of, you should look at federal loans first before looking into private loans.</p>
<p>I’ll look into that, thanks. Wow, this is all very complicated, isn’t it?</p>