College is expensive. I am sure you are thinking ‘yeah, no kidding’. There is not a student (or parent of a student) out there thinking about college that is not also thinking about how to pay for it. According to Educationdata, the average cost of tuition in 2022 was around $35,807 for private institutions and close to $10,000 for in-state residents at public schools. Fortunately, students can find help to pay for college in the way of student loans. There is another tool available that many may not know about and that is income share agreements. Continue reading to find out more about traditional student loan versus an income share and how each option may be beneficial to you.
What Is A Student Loan?
When considering a traditional student loan versus an income share, it is important to fully understand the difference between the two. A student loan is money you borrow to pay for school that you promise to repay with interest. Loans can come from different sources and there are benefits to each one. The amount of money you can borrow depends on if you are an undergraduate or graduate student. It also depends on if you are a parent or a professional working student. You do not have to repay most student loans until you either graduate from college or become a part-time student. However, some lenders expect repayment immediately. Most loans have flexible repayment plans and are easy to finance or postpone.
Typically the interest rate on a student loan is fixed and lower than most other interest rates. Often you may not need a credit check to have a student loan approved. When making the decision about applying for loans to pay for college, weigh all of your options carefully. It may not impact you today, or while you are in school, but it will. You have to pay back the loans once you graduate and the decisions you made years earlier may come back to haunt you.