 TITLE: What Is a Government Loan? CONTENT: Types of Government Loans\n-------------------------\nGovernment loans serve an array of purposes. Here are five common types.\n1.  Student loans: Several loan programs, including direct PLUS loans, Perkins Loans and Stafford Loans, help students or their parents cover college tuition and related expenses.\n2.  Business loans: Several business loan programs, overseen primarily by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), help businesspeople start or grow their enterprises, or recover from disasters. The most popular kind of SBA loan is known as an 7(a) loan.\n3.  Home loans: Numerous mortgage programs for homebuyers and homeowners fall into this category, including federally backed home loans, disaster loans and home improvement loans. A popular type of federal housing loan is a mortgage from a lender approved by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), otherwise known as an FHA loan.\n4.  Agriculture loans: This category includes loans that help farmers and ranchers run or expand their operations.\n5.  Veterans loans: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers several loan programs for military veterans who are homeowners or homebuyers. END