SoFi Blog

Refinancing student loans can be a great strategy for saving money when you’re done with school, but you can also take steps before even applying for loans that will pay off over the longterm.

However, getting accepted to an MBA program is challenging.  So much so that by the time graduate students are admitted to a program, many of them want to secure the first funding options available without pausing to thoroughly assess all the options.

It’s been another big year for student loans. As the $1.2 trillion in outstanding education debt continues to grow, the Class of 2014 became the most indebted ever, with recent college grads owing $33,000 on average and the number for graduate/professional degree borrowers often closer to the six-figure range.

It’s a common story: your friend or family member has “a million dollar idea,” but doesn’t have the money or wherewithal to back it. Then another person comes along and invents it, getting all the money and notoriety that comes along with it. While it was nothing more than an idea in your Aunt Debbie’s head, she still takes it personally whenever she hears about it on the news. Who knew that a social network for dogs would take off?

The term “sequester” may seem so 2013, but the truth is that these automatic spending cuts are still in play – and the next round is scheduled for October 1^st.  Whether you’re currently financing an MBA or other grad school program with Direct PLUS loans or you’re considering using them in the future, these new sequester cuts may have an impact on the amount of money you’ll end up spending on your loans.

So what exactly do you need to know about student loans and the sequester?  Here’s the scoop:

If there’s anything clear about student loans, it’s that the terminology associated with student loans is often far from clear.  Take the words “consolidate” and “refinance,” for example.  Both of these fall into the category of “things you can potentially do with your student loans” and as a result they’re often used interchangeably.  But the terms can have different implications based on the context in which they’re being used.

So here’s the scoop: