As a student you can obtain a substantial financial support from the federal government for your college tuition, books and laboratory fees. The loan accrues no interest during the time that you are legitimately enrolled as a student but will commence drawing interest upon graduation or whenever you leave college. This is the information given by all school aid advisors and is pretty much on the level.

Even though the Soldier and Sailors Act of 1947 should protect you from the increase of interest after school, sometimes this doesn't happen because the actual law is misinterpreted. Many administrators feel that the steady income from a military occupation precludes any advantage in the delay of paying back a government loan or in the reduction of the annual interest.

It is the repayment phase in which many problems can occur. After the 'no interest' phase is over, the student loan can be sold by the Federal Government to state loan agencies. They in turn can then sell them to the highest bidder and in this manner the so called student loans can be quite expensive after the interest rates grow proportionately.

The longer the student loan remains unpaid the larger it grows in size. My student loan was $3,000 but after almost fourteen years the total payback amount was over $16,000. You will understand my distrust of government programs to assist educational costs but until a few years ago it remained the only plan available. This is due to the fact that almost all government loans are administered by local financial institutions and not by government agents. This allows many of the government loans to be placed into delinquent status when this should not happen. It also permits a ratchet of the loan interest to regular consumer rates.

A more acceptable way to acquire government assistance is through the military's G.I. Bill. I finished my education thanks to the old G.I. Bill Act of 1945-1975, a very gracious gift from a grateful nation. The current bill only covers approximately $10,000 which is a matching fund grant. Educational expenses today from a quality university will cost anywhere from $18,000 - $28,000 per semester. These will only cover tuition, books, room and board. Any other expense would have to come from regular employment or from scholarships and grants.

Under certain circumstances an education can be paid through government grants which have no interest or aren't repayable. They must be applied to using published guidelines available through the government or the school grant administrator. These grants have a specific deadline by which they must be solicited. They are competitive and must certain published criteria. Again the local university or college is the administrator of the grant and may be in competition with the student for those funds.

There are competitive scholarships sponsored by academic societies, sororities, fraternities which provide either complete or partial scholarships which you can complete to defray educational expenses. Other groups such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Foreign Legion offer substantial scholarships both to service personnel and to the children of veterans. Police and firemen fraternities, nurses organizations and many more offer scholarships to aid college completion. Essentially government loans exist to assist in the education of its' citizens. However, they do not exist as a right but as a benefit.