Has anyone ever applied for a grant?

Question

How do you apply for a grant and is the process difficult? I have a $100,000 school loan that I am stuck paying and I want to get rid of it.

Answer 1

Not to be rude - and I really mean that - but do you honestly believe that there are "grants" for students who borrowed too heavily and got themselves into unmanageable debt?

If I borrowed $100,000 to open a restaurant and I couldn't afford to pay it back, would someone just give me the money and tell me to forget about it?

What if I bought a really expensive car? Like I went to the Ferrari dealer and I picked out a really hot $168,000 F430, and I drove it around for like 4 years, but the payments were really really high - do you think maybe someone would just make all those payments for me?

Why would an educational loan be any different?

You borrowed the money. You got the education. You knew (or should have known) what that education was going to cost you if you just kept borrowing. You're stuck with the loan. There's no special program to bail out people who weren't careful about how much they borrowed.

That being said - there are "magic" programs that will "forgive" part of your loans. If you're a teacher and you'll sign up for 3 or 4 years working in an under-served community, like way out in the poor, rural areas, or in an inner-city, there is a federal program that will forgive part of your loan. There is a similar program for doctors and other medical professionals, including social workers and nurses. There is also the Americorps program, which offers loan forgiveness to volunteers who are willing to serve with one of their programs for several years. There is also the Peace Corps and the Army National Guard - probably a few more programs, too.

I think you can see what they all have in common - if you agree to work your loans off by joining the military or providing services to the under-served and under-privileged, there are government programs that will forgive part of your educational debt.

There are no programs that just hand out money to people who are really inconvenienced by their poor borrowing decisions. I'm sorry.

Answer 2

To apply for a Government grant (Pell Grant,) go to the financial department at the college you attend or plan to attend, they will give you the paperwork. It's easy to fill out and they will answer any questions you have. As for the $100,000 school loan, I would pay back any money you haven't spent. Pay the interest part off first, and the loan won't continue to grow over time and you'll pay it off a lot faster and cheaper too.