How do student loans affect financial aid?

This year (freshman) all of my tuition is getting payed by government financial aid. However, I need money for other things like housing and credit cards. Will a student loan affect next year’s financial aid even if all of the money were spent? What kind of student loan would be better to get, private or federal?

If all your tuition is getting paid then you really don’t need a student loan. Taking out a loan to pay for credit cards is not really a good idea because you just going to have to pay it off later with interest.

If you decide to get one anyways, Federal loans charge a lower interest rate than private loans. I believe it’s 6.54% and is capped at 8%.