Examine types of student loans.

Examination should include

• the parts of a financial aid award letter and how to compare offers from multiple colleges
• Direct Subsidized vs. Direct Unsubsidized loans
• Direct Parent PLUS (loan taken out by a student’s parents or guardian to cover expenses not met by other types of federal financial aid)
• Direct PLUS Graduate (loan taken out for the educational expenses of graduate school study not covered by other financial aid)
• Direct Consolidation (loan that combines all eligible federal loans into a single loan)
• institutional aid (non-federal aid provided by schools)
• private or state aid (non-federal aid that helps students above and beyond federal aid or for students not eligible for federal aid up to the college’s cost of attendance)
• the associated risks involved in each type of loan.