subsidized loans) for their undergraduate years. That’s a huge amount of debt to take on, but parents can help students pay down these loans.
If the money is available, the most an eligible student can borrow through the Perkins Loan is $5,500 a year up to $27,500.
Federal student loans offer another attractive feature. These loans essentially offer a safety net to grads or college dropouts who find themselves unemployed or underemployed by allowing them to repay a loan based on what they are making rather than what they currently owe. The newest and best federal repayment program is called Pay As You Earn.
To get an idea of what monthly loan payments would be after graduation, take a look at the federal repayment calculator.