Interest rates on home loans may be at the lowest levels ever, but the feds are tightening up, raising rates and limiting grace periods on Direct loans to students, many of whom are already over their heads in college and graduate school debt.

Note the following changes to Direct Student Loans:

Direct Subsidized loans will not be eligible for an interest subsidy during the six-month grace period.

  • Subsidized loans are loans for which the borrower is not responsible for the interest while the student is enrolled in college on at least a half-time basis, when the loan is in the six-month grace period after the student is no longer enrolled at least half time, or if the loan is in a deferment status. This provision eliminates the interest subsidy provided during the six-month grace period for subsidized loans for which the first disbursement is made on or after July 1, 2012, and before July 1, 2014. If you receive a subsidized loan during this timeframe, you will be responsible for the interest that accrues while your loan is in the grace period. You do not have to make payments during the grace period (unless you choose to) but the interest will be added (capitalized) to the principal amount of your loan when the grace period ends. This provision does not eliminate the interest subsidy while the borrower is in school or during eligible periods of deferment.

All subsidized loans made to undergraduate students will have a fixed interest rate of 6.8%.

  • Subsidized loans for which the first disbursement is on or after July 1, 2012, will have a 6.8% fixed interest rate. Note: In the President's FY2013 budget request, the Administration has proposed maintaining the interest rate on subsidized loans at the current rate of 3.4% for the 2012-2013 school year.

Graduate and professional students are no longer eligible to receive subsidized loans.

  • Effective for loans made for payment periods that begin on or after July 1, 2012, graduate and professional students are no longer eligible to receive subsidized loans. However, if you are a graduate or professional student, you may still qualify for up to $20,500 in unsubsidized loans each year.

The U.S. Department of Education can no longer offer borrowers repayment incentives.

  • Effective for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2012, the Department of Education is prohibited from offering any repayment incentives to Direct Loan borrowers, except interest rate reductions to borrowers who agree to have payments automatically electronically debited from their bank account).

If you have any questions about how these changes could impact you, please contact the financial aid administrator at your school or call 1-800-4-FED-AID.

As if it wasn't difficult enough these days for college students and their primary benefactors (read as, parental units) to make ends meet, pay tuition, room and board, and simply have enough money on hand come the end of the week to eat.

For additional changes and updates on the student aid front, check out Student Aid on the Web.

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