Parent Plus vs Student Loans and deferment

[cover]

We're looking to help finance our son's last two years of college at a
University here in WA state. On the one hand, we've considered a
parent plus loan but want him to have some ownership for his loans and
have other kids we need to help too. That leaves a student loan and
it *appears* that we'd likely be onboard as co-signers on any student
loan so perhaps, in the end the parent plus loan is the way to go
where interest rates are concerned. Any thoughts on this by folks
with experience?

Also, we're looking at the following sites and the loan totals would
probably be in the neighborhood of $15k/year so we'd be hoping to
defer payments on the loan until after he graduates. Any experience
with the following sites? TIA for any helpful replies..

https://dlenote.ed.gov/empn/index.jsp

http://www.salliemae.com/salliemae_home.htm

[Steve Blank]

A PLUS loan inevitably costs far less than an alternative student loan,
which usually does require a co-signer.

The only advantage to the alternative loan is being able to defer
payment until he's out of school, but you will pay more in the long run
with higher adjustable rates and fees.

A few lenders do offer PLUS payment deferrals. For example, AAA
automobile club says on their website AAA.com that they offer a PLUS
with an interest only option for two years - you can call them to find
out exactly how that works - and although some of the breaks they offer
(1% plus 1% rate reductions, 6.5% instead of the usual 8.5%) are listed
as for AAA members, a representative told me everybody gets the breaks
because they are either members or were referred by a member. I'm a
member - consider this your referral :)

If you do go with an alternative loan be sure to compare fees, interest
rates, and how much they can adjust.

Steven B. Blank
College Financial Aid Consultants
29 Ives Hill Court
Cheshire, CT 06410
(203)250-7761

cover said the following on 7/23/2007 3:48 PM:

[cover]

Hey Steven, was just at the AAA site again, called them and ultimately
referred to Bank of America. AAA and BofA indicated that they do not
DO parent plus loans. The line of credit on their site appears to be
a fairly generic line of credit offer and when I asked about the two
year interest only, I may as well have been speaking a foreign
language. Any other recommended sources for a parent plus w/interest
only?

Chris

[cover]

Have much experience with http://www.parentplusloan.com/ ???

[Steve Blank]

Apparently the WA AAA does not handle loans like they do here in CT.
Sorry about that.

But the Bank of America website does list PLUS loans for WA schools.

As for other PLUS lenders, there are many. A major lender is
salliemae.com, but you'll want to check on others to see what, if any,
deals they may offer.

I'm afraid that's as far as I can take you - compare the terms of one
against the other.

Steven B. Blank
College Financial Aid Consultants
29 Ives Hill Court
Cheshire, CT 06410
(203)250-7761

cover said the following on 7/30/2007 3:22 PM: