| In May, the Georgia Higher Education Assistance Corporation (GHEAC), the guarantor of the (GSFC), announced that it will pay the mandatory one-percent federal default fee on behalf of all Georgia borrowers. This will be in effect until at least June, 2009. |
Georgia also offers the GAcollege Alternative Loan. - This is a credit-based loan, with interest rates dependent on creditworthiness.
- A cosigner is usually required.
- The maximum total amount can be $100,000-$250,000 depending on your field of study and credit rating.
- The minimum amount is $500.
Beginning this year, Georgia will be offering three new low-interest loan programs: - Loan of last resort- up to $10,000 per year for up to 4 years for students who want to attend college, but just miss the HOPE scholarship eligibility
- Graduate on time loans- prime interest rates to start, but if the student graduates within 4 years with at least a 2.0 GPA, the interest rate drops to 1%
- Education for public service loans- interest rates start out at prime, but if the graduate is employed by the state or local government or a public school system, it drops to 1%
Georgia's college loan programs also targets service cancellable loans. Thirty-one different health fields have been approved for loan cancellation.
| The Service Cancellable Loan Program was stopped in August 2009. Legislators hope that it will begin again the following year. |
Also, agriculture, the Georgia national guard and social work are approved fields. The maximum loan amounts range from $2,000-$10,000 by program.
Like many states, Georgia is reducing merit aid and increasing need-based aid. The cancellation of the Governor's Scholarship Program shows that practicality is replacing prestige in financial aid. Although the program is not funded as completely as it was a decade ago, 1,500 students will be losing their awards in the fall. The Georgia Student Finance Commission managed this and other scholarship programs.
The new loan initiatives by the state of Georgia offer terms that are better than federal student loans and fill the gap left by the collapse of the private lending market.
return from Georgia Student Finance Commission to state college loans
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