GradPlus question

[Anonymous]

Just to further clarify what is going on here (Talulah, I'm finally on your page!):

"Federal loans" usually refer to federal Stafford loans.  Sallie Mae says that federal Stafford loans are "fixed-rate student loans made to undergraduate and graduate students . . . "

https://www.salliemae.com/get_student_loan/find_student_loan/grad/grad_student_loans/stafford/

Right now interest is fixed at 6% for undergrads, 6.8% for grad students. 

The GradPLUS loans are described as "federally sponsored loans for students attending graduate school."  The fixed interest rate for this year is 8.5%.

https://www.salliemae.com/get_student_loan/find_student_loan/grad/grad_student_loans/grad_plus/

Turns out this is a product that is offered by Sallie Mae and by Access Group.

What I'm (finally) gathering is that the GradPLUS loans compete with private loans (variable interest rates).  Looks like, just like private loans, they are (at least somewhat) credit-based and you can borrow up to the full cost (certified by school) of education.

http://www.accessgroup.org/Student-Loans/docfiles/GradPLUS-Private-Student-Loan-Comparison.pdf

Also found this from DOE

http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/funding/PlusLoansQA.pdf

It is still unclear to me if this is just a choice you have about what product to apply for (GradPLUS or private), or if you have to somehow be certified as eligible to participate in this federal student loan program (like Stafford).  Looks like I just missed out on this program for my own education--it went into effect July 1, 2006 and I graduated in May 2005.  Alas.

http://www.finaid.org/loans/gradplus.phtml

[Anonymous]

For GRadplus, it really just has to be a graduate program at an accredited school, and can't exceed your COA. Other than that, it's really your choice. There are pros and cons to it, depending on what private loans are available to you. I got a private loan through my state that had a crazy low index rate for the interest, so I took. However, this next year, the bond they had to use for new loans was so pricey, that index has gone away. I'll probably just use the GradPlus next year. One tip, through the government directly, the interest rate is only 7.9%, but the origination fee is 4%. Overall, I think the lower interest is better.