Financial Aid Advisor: Decision Facilitator

A financial aid advisor helps you to decide what kind of financial aid you ought to try and get for your college/university education. But do you really need this assistance? Is the world of education aid so complicated that you can't figure it out for yourself?

Financial aid for the purpose of education often presents unique dilemmas and catch-22 situations where the help of a financial aid advisor proves to be invaluable. For example, if you are applying for a direct-to-student federal loan like the Stafford loan, do you opt for the subsidized or the unsubsidized variety?

First Example: Stafford Dilemma

The subsidized Stafford loan has a much lower ceiling on the actual amount disbursed, but it has the advantage that during your course of study, no interest accrues on the borrowed sum. On the other hand, an unsubsidized Stafford has a much higher ceiling on sum disbursed, but the interest on it starts to accumulate from the first day. Still it may be worth your consideration in the short run, because you can defer the repayment until six moths after you have graduated. To make sense of this kind of situation, you need to consult a financial aid advisor.

Second Example: Consolidation Dilemma

Similarly, consider the case of loan consolidation. If you decide to consolidate your several loans, you get certain advantages. Your financial complexities are reduced, and you get to pay a lower amount per month. The interest rates are fixated to an average of those of your separate loans, which is specially helpful when national interest rates are rising. However, there's a downside to all this – your total loan term increases to a maximum of thirty years, so you may end up paying more over the life of your loan. That is exactly when you may need to consult a financial aid advisor, to help you decide whether to consolidate or not.