Going to school is a dream for many college students. A small minority of college students who have scholarships do not need to worry very much about any college student loans. However, many college students discover that they will have a hard time getting their private or alternative college student loan approved because of bad credit or no credit.

What these college student have not discovered yet is the federal financial aid college student loan program. These college student loans are not based on your credit score or lack of. They have many different programs, loans and grants to offer. Some are need based as others are not. You only have to file one form to qualify for many different possible combinations of loans and grants. The free online FASFA application is the place to start.

Some of your friends and maybe family members have probably told you some horror stories about this program. Do not believe them. If you file the FASFA application with all the information they are requesting accurately you will have no head aches from this process.

The information to have at hand before you start is your social security number, your address, your bank statements and monthly bills, and tax information. If you have not yet filed your tax return you can estimate and correct once you have. Be sure to estimate correctly, if you do not that could be a problem once you finally do file your taxes and correct what you have put on the application. The application its self could take 45 minutes to an hour to complete. They ask a lot of questions but if you have gathered the information before hand, you will simply plug the information into where it applies.

If you look at it an hour of your time to possibly qualify for three or four different types of loans or grants (free money). I think the time will be well spent. There process of review is also very reasonable, five to ten business days and you should receive a SAR report telling you in detail everything you qualify for and what your next steps are. It really is easy if you read and answer the questions correctly.

Having the above information and knowledge will give you an edge on securing your financial aid college student loans. They will be low interest fixed rate, very low fees, and payments will not be made until after you have graduated. Depending on the college student loans you qualify for six month to 9 month after you have graduated. You will not find those terms with a private or alternative college student loan no matter how hard you look or how good your credit is.

Your knowledge today will set the tone for your financial freedom in the future. Knowing what college student loans options are available to you along with all the terms and conditions are giving you the best possible payback scenarios out there. Be wise and file the free online FASFA application and watch the best college student loans offers come in.