Some students who have failed to file for their FAFSA, and instead jumped right into private student loans have asked the question, “can I convert private student loans to federal student loans?”, and though this would be nice, the simple answer is “no”.
Private student loans are a completely different “animal” (if you will) than federal student loans. The only way to begin the process of receiving federal student loans is to file for FAFSA.
Once you have taken out private student loans, they remain private student loans, without the ability to transform them into federal Stanford or Perkins loans.
You may have the option (depending on the terms of your private student loans) to consolidate them with a different private student loan lender for better rates and lower payments, but you will not have the option of consolidating private student loans into federal student loans.
As always it is best to do your research before taking out any student loans. The smart rule of thumb is going to be to apply for FAFSA before you look into any other private student loans.
Tags: applying student loans college, FAFSA, federal student loans, Private student loans
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