You have read the brochures, you have made your college choice, now comes the tough part of determining how you are going to pay for your college education. If you are like most students, you are not independently wealthy and so you start looking at student loan applications. This is the way that the vast majority of college students fund their college education. But there are multiple things to consider in this scenario which indicate that although this may be the easiest way to finance it, it may not be the best way, and you will not know that unless you have investigated the options.

A recent news article stated that most college financial aid offices maintain a list of preferred lenders. These are lenders who have worked out something with the college to make the loan application process and loan approval process as easy as possible, both for the student as well as the college accounting office. But this article encourages students to look beyond the list of preferred lenders that the college provides, since from a total and overall financial aspect, this may not be your best option.

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