when it comes to student loans there are several different ways to approach this. the best method that comes to mind is one that several students go:

1) fill out the FASFA (this will require that you have income information on your self as well as parents)

2) once you have the FASFA filled out, have you SAR (Student aide report) sent to your college or university.

3) set an appointment with your college or university's department of financial aide.

*** It should be noted that even if you are not eligible for financial aide such as grants that you can still be eligible for loan services. Your department of financial aide will be able to discuss what kind of loan programs are support via the school, as well as the amount that you can get through the school***

4) Once you have filled out the forms for your financial aide office you should be able to get the funds sent to your account.

5) If the amount of the 1st loan is not enough there is another option offered most of the time. you will have to then submit for a loan with a private bank using the parent plus loan, if this loan is then accepted then you can go with it. however if the loan is denied for any reason then you are able to start another process that will have a fixed rate and be through the university for a 2nd loan.

6) Once the Parent Plus Loan is declined either take the letter (the one mailed to you) to your financial aide office, or contact them to find out if the rejected loan shows on their system. once this is shown to the financial aide office set another appointment.

7) on this appointment with Financial aide you can tell then that you were declined for a parent plus loam and that you will need an additional one to cover costs. at this point they will look in their system and find out how much financial aide you already get (this would be the previous loan plus any scholarships of grants) and then subtract that amount from their projected cost of attendance (often this is tuition, fees, books, and cost of living while in school), once this number is found they will then be able to issue you a loan for the amount not yet covered for the cost of going to school.

it should be noted that finding a fixed rate student loan that is not done through the college or university while attending is going to be very hard. the reason for this is because most student loans that are done in a private manner are often the prime rate for student loans plus an additional fixed bank rate, with the prime rate being adjustable over time. however once you are out of college you might be able to get all of your student loans rolled into one loan at a fixed rate.

another key factor to take into consideration while student loan shopping is that for the most part it does not matter which bank you go with as they are governed by the same special federal laws for student loans, for the most part what you find at Bank of America will also find at Wells Fargo.

~Joey V~
Source(s):
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/


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