Private and federal student loans feature low interest rates and flexible repayment options. In almost every case, there are no required student loan payments while you're in school at least half-time or during a six-month grace period, and no loan prepayment penalty. With a subsidized Federal Stafford Loan, the government pays the interest while the borrower is enrolled in school. For subsidized Stafford loans, you must have financial need as determined by your school and be enrolled or plan to enroll at least half time.

When federal financial aid and scholarships aren't enough, private student loans are a great way to meet the total cost of education. A private student loan typically has slightly higher interest rates than a government loan. However, the interest rates on private student loans are almost always lower than conventional credit products such as personal loans, credit cards and even home equity loans. Signing up online for a student loan, also know as e-signing, is the fastest way to obtain education loan funds.

• A private student loan cover up to 100% of the cost of education, including books, fees, rent, and other education-related expenses.
• Private loans for students are non-need based so all creditworthy borrowers are eligible.
• Loan repayment usually begins after graduation unless enrollment becomes less than half time.
• There are no application deadlines.

Scholarships are provided for a number of reasons including academic merit, the demonstration of financial need, members of underrepresented groups, leadership talents, artistic talent, athletic ability, and for particular fields of study, to name a few. Unlike student loans, scholarships and fellowships do not have to be repaid. Students who are awarded scholarships often need additional financial assistance such as a student loan.

There are many scholarships for average students, those without a 4.0 GPA, that focus on qualities besides academic merit. Watch out for scholarship scams. If they require that you pay a fee, it's probably a scam.

There are several free scholarship databases available online. With more than 1.5 million scholarships worth more than $3.4 billion, FastWeb's free scholarship search with information on more than 600,000 scholarships is the largest, most accurate and most frequently updated scholarship database. FastWeb also includes a college search and numerous other student resources.

Grants and an excellent way to pay for college. Grants, like scholarships, do not have to be repaid. They are often available through the federal government and state agencies. Grants include the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG), National SMART Grant, and TEACH Grant.

There are two types of grants. They are: (1) Direct - These are grants in which you directly apply to the federal government, and (2) Pass-Through - These are grants in which the state applies to the federal government, the government receives the grant, and then it is passed back to the state.

The federal program that provides Pell grants to middle and lower-income college students got $36 billion more money as part of the 2010 health care reform bill.