PLUS Loans – it's never too late to subsidize your child’s education cost

Written by Vanessa McHooley


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You can take out one loan per enrollment period for each eligible student in your family. PLUS Loans do require an application fee of up 4% ofrepparttar principal ofrepparttar 109207 loan. These fees are deducted fromrepparttar 109208 loan principal, so no up-front money is required. The fee includes a 3% origination fee charged byrepparttar 109209 federal government and a guarantee fee of up to 1% charged byrepparttar 109210 guarantee agency. However, most guarantors waiverepparttar 109211 guarantee fee. How are PLUS Loan funds disbursed? Funds are sent directly torepparttar 109212 school’s financial aid office for scheduled payments overrepparttar 109213 course ofrepparttar 109214 academic year. As with other federal loans, there are usually at least two disbursements, one for each school term. The funds are first applied to tuition, fees, room and board, and other school charges. If any money remains, you can receive it as a check or you can put it in your student’s school account. This remaining money must be used for education expenses. When do I repay PLUS Loans? You start paying back PLUS Loans 60 days afterrepparttar 109215 final disbursement ofrepparttar 109216 school year. So, ifrepparttar 109217 final disbursement is made in January, as is typical, repayment generally begins in late February or early March. PLUS Loans arerepparttar 109218 financial responsibility ofrepparttar 109219 parents, notrepparttar 109220 student. Ifrepparttar 109221 student agrees to make payments onrepparttar 109222 PLUS Loan but fails to makerepparttar 109223 payments on time,repparttar 109224 parents are held responsible. What isrepparttar 109225 difference between PLUS Loans and other student loans? The other student loan generally available to students isrepparttar 109226 Stafford Loan. The table below illustratesrepparttar 109227 similarities and differences between these two loan programs: PLUS Loan Federally guaranteed Made to parents of dependent students Interest rate is low, but not as low as a Stafford (currently 4.17%) Repayment begins 60 days after final disbursement forrepparttar 109228 academic year Loan borrowing can be up to 100% of college education costs Stafford Loan Federally guaranteed Made to students themselves Interest rate is lowest available (currently 3.37% Repayment begins six months after graduation or leaving school Loan borrowing is capped: • $2,625 for first-year undergraduates • $3,500 for second-year undergraduates • $5,500 for third- and fourth-year undergraduates Loan can be needs-based and requires a FAFSA Interest charges do not begin until repayment begins, after graduation This article is distributed by NextStudent. At NextStudent, we believe that getting an education isrepparttar 109229 best investment you can make, and we're dedicated to helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding as easy as possible. We invite you to learn more about PLUS Loans at http://www.NextStudent.com.



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Developing Fluency in Young Children

Written by Nicole Brekelbaum


Continued from page 1

Can Your Child Build Words using Ending Clusters? It is a good idea to introduce words with ending clusters to kids around first or second grade, or when you believe that they are developmentally ready for this challenge. Examiningrepparttar ending clusters for a whole group of words is a big step towards fluency. This step should be approached with patience and care. Take a word, for example, like light. The ending cluster here is “ight”. Removerepparttar 109206 letter “l” and substituterepparttar 109207 letter “s” instead. Now you haverepparttar 109208 word sight. Continue in this manner until your child begins to recognize and pronounce words on his own such as might, fight, fright and bright. Introduce other ending clusters to him and help him become familiar with manipulating words.

Is Your Child Familiar with Beginning Blends? Beginning blends are great ways for children to sound out words that are unfamiliar to them. Takerepparttar 109209 beginning blend “ST” for instance. If a child understands how to pronouncerepparttar 109210 words star and start, then unfamiliar words such as stand, stop, stamp and stall become easier to pronounce with practice. Over time children begin to decode words one at a time and can soon read a whole sentence. Encouraging your child to read a familiar text can also build fluency and comprehension. An excellent easy reader isrepparttar 109211 “Dick and Jane” series. It allows children to sound out familiar three and four letter words in repetitive sentences thus giving themrepparttar 109212 self-confidence they need to master difficult pronunciations.

Have You Encouraged Independent Reading? Visit your local library to see what programs are available that encourages reading. Usually children can join their library’s book club, gain school credit from reading a number of library books and sometimes win small prizes after attaining reading milestones. Encourage your child to searchrepparttar 109213 library bookshelves for books that are of interest to him and that are also appropriate for his age. On occasion encourage him to read aloud to you so that you can diagnose any difficulties in his phonic skills such as slow reading and poor comprehension. Oftentimes poor readers have a slow word per minute count and have difficulty decoding words, which may in turn lead to poor comprehension ofrepparttar 109214 text.

Do You Read Books? One very important way to develop fluency in kids is to read books yourself. When children see adults reading they understand firsthandrepparttar 109215 benefits of improving their literacy skills. Discuss books that you have read together, expand on a particular lesson or theme seen in a book, and encourage your child to develop a love for reading.

Nicole Brekelbaum is the director at Young Achievers Inc.- A home-based learning center for aspiring youth located in Pflugerville, Texas. She has been providing childcare in her home since her career switch from working engineer to childcare director and mom.


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