Parent Plus vs Student Loans and deferment

We're looking to help finance our son's last two years of college at a
University here in WA state. On the one hand, we've considered a
parent plus loan but want him to have some ownership for his loans and
have other kids we need to help too. That leaves a student loan and
it *appears* that we'd likely be onboard as co-signers on any student
loan so perhaps, in the end the parent plus loan is the way to go
where interest rates are concerned. Any thoughts on this by folks
with experience?

Also, we're looking at the following sites and the loan totals would
probably be in the neighborhood of $15k/year so we'd be hoping to
defer payments on the loan until after he graduates. Any experience
with the following sites? TIA for any helpful replies..

https://dlenote.ed.gov/empn/index.jsp

http://www.salliemae.com/salliemae_home.htm

A PLUS loan inevitably costs far less than an alternative student loan,
which usually does require a co-signer.

The only advantage to the alternative loan is being able to defer
payment until he's out of school, but you will pay more in the long run
with higher adjustable rates and fees.

A few lenders do offer PLUS payment deferrals. For example, AAA
automobile club says on their website AAA.com that they offer a PLUS
with an interest only option for two years - you can call them to find
out exactly how that works - and although some of the breaks they offer
(1% plus 1% rate reductions, 6.5% instead of the usual 8.5%) are listed
as for AAA members, a representative told me everybody gets the breaks
because they are either members or were referred by a member. I'm a
member - consider this your referral

If you do go with an alternative loan be sure to compare fees, interest
rates, and how much they can adjust.


Steven B. Blank
College Financial Aid Consultants
29 Ives Hill Court
Cheshire, CT 06410
(203)250-7761


cover said the following on 7/23/2007 3:48 PM:
> We're looking to help finance our son's last two years of college at a
> University here in WA state. On the one hand, we've considered a
> parent plus loan but want him to have some ownership for his loans and
> have other kids we need to help too. That leaves a student loan and
> it *appears* that we'd likely be onboard as co-signers on any student
> loan so perhaps, in the end the parent plus loan is the way to go
> where interest rates are concerned. Any thoughts on this by folks
> with experience?
>
> Also, we're looking at the following sites and the loan totals would
> probably be in the neighborhood of $15k/year so we'd be hoping to
> defer payments on the loan until after he graduates. Any experience
> with the following sites? TIA for any helpful replies..
>
> https://dlenote.ed.gov/empn/index.jsp
>
> http://www.salliemae.com/salliemae_home.htm
>