What's the difference between FAFSA and Federal Stafford Loan?

Question

What's the difference between FAFSA and Federal Stafford Loan?

Answer 1

FAFSA is an application form. It determines eligibility for student aid . Federal Stafford Loans are the actual loans you can receive if you are eligible.

Answer 2

FAFSA is simple the web application program the federal government uses to store your information.  The Federal Stafford Loan is a program that works to get money to students.  Its a loan and banks such as Bankone or BOA or Chase offer it to student for low APR and fees.

Answer 3

FAFSA determines what loans/grants you are entitled to

Stafford is just one of them

Answer 4

The FAFSA (free application for federal student aid) is the application that you will use to apply for financial aid - the Stafford loan is one type of educational assistance that you might receive when your application is processed.

The FAFSA is administered by the US Department of Education - that's the group that oversees all of the educational aid. Once you have completed your FAFSA, you'll submit it to the Department, and they'll analyze your information in order to calculate something called an EFC, or expected family contribution.

The expected family contribution is the government's estimate of how much your parents should be expected to contribute to your educational expenses this year.

When you complete the FAFSA, you'll tell the Department where you want your results sent. They'll send a copy to you, and they'll send a report to any college or university that you ask them to send it to. Once your school has received the FAFSA report, the financial aid office will evaluate your need by comparing your EFC to that school's "cost of attendance."

Cost of attendance, by the way, isn't just tuition, it also includes books, room and board, fees, transportation to and from school, and miscellaneous expenses, including the cost of a computer.

Your financial aid office will put together an aid "offer", which you'll receive in the form of a letter. That offer may include a variety of different types of financial aid; loans, grants, scholarships, and maybe a work-study assignment. The largest and best known type of federal loan is known as the Stafford loan - chances are that you may well be offered one of those.

Stafford loans are attractive because they're offered at lower interest rates than any other type of educational loan you're going to find (well, unless you get one from your rich Uncle Ted). Not only that, you don't have to make payments on your Stafford loan until several months after you finish your degree. (If you go on to graduate school, your repayment obligation will be delayed even further).

Of course, what you'd really like are grants and scholarships - unlike loans - they don't need to be repaid.

I've attached a great reference below that explains student aid in easy to understand terms - it'll answer just about any question you could possibly have. This is a great government publication that talks about all of the different forms of educational assistance  - along with some warnings about things to avoid. You and your parents should definitely take the time to read it over.

Good luck to you - I hope this helped!

Answer 5

FAFSA is where you go to apply for all loans for free with just one application.  The information is sent to your school and they apply it to the loans and grants that are Federal, State and local.  Federal Stafford Loan is just one of the many funding options covered by the FAFSA

Answer 6

FAFSA is a pell grant from the government used to pay your tuition without paying them back.....you get the amount you qualify for..

A stafford loan is a School loan which you will have to pay back when you're out of school....