Smart Borrowing

Waubonsee Community College and the Financial Aid Office care about your financial well-being during your time in college—and after. It's not too early to think about life after college, because unlike other types of financial aid, loans must be paid back.

After leaving school, some students have difficulty making monthly loan payments while also paying other expenses like rent and car payments. As a result, individuals can become delinquent on payments or default on student loans. A student loan default adversely affects your credit rating, can result in the garnishment of wages and/or tax refunds, and prohibits you from receiving future federal and state financial aid. Keep in mind that student loan debt cannot be forgiven through bankruptcy.

Steps to Smart Borrowing

To avoid potential negative outcomes, the Financial Aid Office recommends Smart Borrowing, which includes a variety of steps you can take.

1. Only borrow the amount that you need for a year of school. Develop a budget for each academic year that includes all of your expenses and resources. Expenses include tuition and fees, books, living expenses, personal expenses and transportation. Personal expenses should be limited to essential items only. Resources include employment, savings, assistance from family and financial aid. The difference between total expenses and resources will be the maximum amount you should consider borrowing.
2. Learn about available repayment plans.
3. Compare monthly loan payments to expected earnings. Calculate the total amount you could borrow to complete your educational goal based on the annual loan limits. Determine the monthly payments on your expected total loan using the Loan Simulator, and then compare those loan payments with the expected earnings for your chosen major.
4. Visit StudentAid.gov to review your servicer information, federal loan and grant details, and update your address and contact information. Monitor your cumulative loan balance at least annually.
5. If you take unsubsidized loans (in which financial need does not need to be demonstrated), consider making interest payments on these loans. This will prevent the interest from being capitalized, which increases your principal balance. Contact your loan servicer to find out the amount of accrued interest and about making payments while still in school.
6. Before you leave Waubonsee, Exit Counseling is required. Notices are sent to graduating students prior to the end of each semester.  Exit Counseling is completed at StudentAid.gov.

Other Resources

There are additional resources you can use to manage your finances and borrowing.

• Federal Student Aid Estimator
• Loan Simulator