student loans

3 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Consolidating Your Student Loans

By College Raptor StaffLast updated on December 22, 2022

While consolidating a student loan is a great solution for anyone looking for a way to manage their monthly payments, this may not necessarily be the right option for you. Before you choose to consolidate your student loans, ask yourself these questions: Should I choose to lower my monthly payments? The only way lower your …

questions & answers

Where’s The Best Place To Get Money For College?

By College Raptor StaffLast updated on February 25, 2025

With today’s soaring tuition fees, the question on everyone’s mind is: how do you pay for college? While there are many sources of aid and funding, two options stand above the rest. The two best sources to start with are the FAFSA and scholarships. FAFSA Filling the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is …

financial aid

How Home Equity Can Affect Financial Aid

By College Raptor StaffLast updated on December 22, 2022

If you own a home, or maybe a couple of homes, one of your major concerns is likely to be whether or not your home equity will affect your child’s eligibility for financial aid. So here’s what you need to know about equity and its impact on financial aid. Not All Colleges Are Interested In …

student loans

All About Capitalization And Student Loan Interest

By College Raptor StaffLast updated on March 24, 2025

Just when you think you’ve read all you possibly could about student loans, you are sure to come across yet another new term that you need to read up about. Learning everything there is to know about student loans will empower you to make well-informed decisions. With that said, if you have not heard about …

questions & answers

What Is “Discretionary Income” And Why Does It Matter For Student Loans?

By College Raptor StaffLast updated on March 6, 2025

Discretionary Income is the money that you have left over after you have finished paying all your essentials such as rent, food, and utilities. Spending Discretionary Income While nobody can tell you how to spend your discretionary income, if you have outstanding student loans, you may want to be a little careful about what you …

questions & answers

When Is The Best Time To Refinance Student Loans?

By College Raptor StaffLast updated on December 22, 2022

For many students, one of the more popular reasons to refinance is to save money on student loans, but as with most student loan options, it should be chosen carefully. Refinancing can help you improve your current financial situation but only if you refinance student loans at the right time. When to Refinance Student Loans …

questions & answers

What is Student Loan “Principal Balance?”

By Hilary CairnsLast updated on February 27, 2025

When you’re applying for (or repaying) student loans, you’re going to come across quite a few terms that you may not quite understand. One of these terms is your student loan “principal balance.” Here’s a quick rundown of what that means for your student loan debt. What is “principal balance?” The principal balance is the …

student loans

How Credit Score Affects Student Loan Refinance And Consolidation

By College Raptor StaffLast updated on February 26, 2025

Student loan consolidation and refinancing are two of the most popular solutions that students turn to in order to better manage their loan payments. However, both refinance and consolidation work differently from each other. How Credit Score Affects Student Loan Consolidation Consolidating your loans means you are simply combining multiple existing loans into a single consolidated …

scholarship search & applications

Boost Your Chances of Winning a Scholarship By Volunteering

By College Raptor StaffLast updated on March 6, 2025

Organizations award scholarships based on varied criteria, ranging from the most straightforward criteria such as academic excellence, to the most unusual criteria such as the ability to speak Klingon or making the most creative PBJ sandwich. But one criterion that is common in almost all scholarships is community involvement in the form of volunteering. Volunteering …

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Can Students Build Good Credit In High School?

By College Raptor StaffLast updated on March 24, 2025

You know you will be heading off to college after high school and that means you are likely to be looking for student loans. While building and having a credit history does not matter when it comes to federal student loans, it can make a huge difference when borrowing money from private lenders. The Importance …