Exploring student loans
If your savings, grants, and scholarships still fall short of what you need to pay for college, you and your family should check out these college loan options:
Federal student loans are the largest source of college loans. You and your family can get these loans through private financial institutions such as Sallie Mae.
These loans have very attractive terms when compared to private loans. So, get all the federal loans you can before looking into private loans.
Private student loans supplement federal loan programs. You can get these from your school or from private financial institutions.
Depending on the lender, private student loans (also known as alternative student loans or personal student loans) have terms that can vary considerably based on your credit history.