Web site offers Stafford student loan service - www.financialaid.com - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, August 14, 2003 by Ronald Roach

SAN DIEGO

With the new school year around the corner, nearly six million undergraduate students are scrambling for nearly $90 billion in financial aid assistance to meet the ballooning costs of attending college. Given shrinking scholarship and financial aid budgets, the bulk of this aid--54 percent--will be in the form of student loans, with more than five million students in America relying on federal Stafford loans.

To assist these borrowers, the education finance Web site FinancialAid.com <www.financialaid.com> has announced a program that simplifies the process of obtaining Stafford loans by allowing students to apply online.

At FinancialAid.com, Stafford loan applicants fill out a simple online loan application and receive a follow-up call from a specially trained loan consultant within 48 hours. At that time, the loan consultant will obtain any additional information needed to complete the application and answer any questions. Once the information is submitted and processed, FinancialAid.com will mail the applicant final loan documents, which he/she will sign and return via a postage-paid envelope. This streamlined process saves applicants time--and money, with FinancialAid.com's highly competitive Stafford loan program benefits, according to FinancialAid.com officials.

"Federal Stafford loans are among the best student loan options available today, as they offer students low interest rates and deferred payment options," says Michael O'Brien, CEO of FinancialAid.com.