Let’s suppose that you have a teenager who will shortly be leaving high school. You will feel proud naturally, just like any other parent. whose child is graduating from high school. It is one of those milestones of life that you have successfully circumnavigated, in spite of all the financial problems that you have probably had to overcome. It is time to celebrate, because you have fulfilled your responsibility of giving your child a better chance in life.

However, most people would tell you, that a high school graduation is not the be all and end all. In fact, it is just the beginning of bigger challenges that are waiting for you and your child in the next few years of college education.

At this point, you need to begin thinking about how you will pay for the studies of your college-bound child. With the increasing cost of tuition fees, you need to plan ahead well of time to avoid any problems, especially if you not well-off. You probably already know how difficult it is to have to cope with the increasing costs of your child’s high school education before. The earlier you start thinking about your child’s college education, the less you will have financial problems later.

If you honestly think you might be faced with financial issues again, it is important that you know the various financial aid programs on the market for your college-bound child. Continue reading to learn the financial aids that are available to you:

A Grant: it is the first sort of college financial aid that you should go for. It just needs you to complete a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) application form. Once the form has been submitted, it will be evaluated and if your child qualifies, he/she will be entitled to the full amount of what he/she has applied for. At this moment, you need not do anything much more except provide the name of the college or university that your teen wants to enrol into.

A Scholarship: Despite the fact that scholarships are usually meant for students who have the ‘brains’ but not the ‘money’, not all college scholarships are intended for academics. Students who do not have the best academic record can still get a college scholarships. There are college sports scholarships, community service work scholarships, social involvement scholarships and many others. These are just a couple of the different types of scholarships for your child if he / she is not that academically talented.

‘Student Loans’: these types of loan have much lower interest rates compared with other sorts of loan. Some loans are off-set, which means that the interest does not accumulate until a student graduates college. Moreover, these loans do not require collateral, and therefore, you do not have to worry about putting your own home up as collateral against the student loan for your teenager. Most of these loans are available on various repayment plans at low interest rates and low monthly installment payments.

If you haven’t yet started looking for any of the various financial aid programs available, it is advisable that you start now. These financial aids are there to help you and will provide the funds needed for your child’s college education. You can be free from worries about the cost of your child’s education, if you start early enough.

If you require information on being awarded college education funding then you really must visit our website on applying for scholarships and grants

Since early 2005, when new rules regarding the tuition fees were set by the Constitutional Court, alternative loan schemes in Germany have been developed. Until that time some banks had already presented plans for student loans (German: Studentenkredite). Long after the DKB (Deutsche Kredit Bank) had implemented the first academic credit supply together with Career Concept, the world’s first provider of educational funds, in October 2005 also the Deutsche Bank began to offer student loans. Meanwhile, there are several offers from other private and public banks, including the KfW.

The “dbStudentenKredit” of the Deutsche Bank can be taken by any student at a German university or college, regardless of the study subject. The maximum age is 30 years. As a prerequisite for the award of a “dbStudentenKredit” the bank requires a detailed study plan. All future courses of study shall be listed up and the main intention regarding the later career plans should be explained. In addition, the bank gets some information about the creditworthiness of the students from the Schufa book that lists up the financial details of every German inhabitant. These two categories of information give the bank a certain amount of security.

During the 1st and 2nd Semester one can get up to 200 Euros a month for living expenses and education fees. At a further stage the maximum amount of money is 800 Euros monthly. The rate of interest changes from time to time. After a student has finished studying the sum that has to be paid back is fixed by a new contract. During the first year after going off from university no repayments need to be made. The students have 12 years to reimburse the loan (Studentenkredit). Surely it is also possible to repay the total amount of money in one go.

The Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (Credit Institute for Reconstruction), was founded after the 2nd World War with the aim to finance the reconstruction of the German economy. Since April 2006, the KfW development bank also offers a study loan for all students doing their first degree.

The KfW Student Loan (Studentenkredite) does not call for many background information, but it is not approved in the case of a private bankruptcy. Furthermore it is free for all German students (also EU foreigners) and for all state-recognized universities. The only conditions are that the applicant has not yet ended his studies and not yet reached an age of 31.

Find out more about the student loan (German: Studienkredite)situation in Germany and go to my blog about Studienkredite. Various possibilities of student funding in Germany discussed further.