Financial Aid & Student Loans

When compared to earlier times, where higher education was the privilege of the rich it is a completely different scenario now, where it is within the reach of even students who comes from families who don’t have the financial capacity to send their children for higher education through the student loans and financial aid. It is only understandable that very few parents have the financial resources for the high tuition fees so most of these students fill out the FAFSA forms and apply for student loans. This modern and innovative method of such student grants and loans have made it possible for thousands of students from families deserving financial aid, to realize their dream of pursuing their higher education and making something of their lives.

It is quite interesting that the very first recorded student loan program was developed by the Harvard University way back in 1840 and was private loans and had nothing to do with the government!! Later, in 1935 a law was passed by the State of Indiana’s General Assembly which provided student aid to deserving students who scored high test marks for their college entrance examinations which led to the creation of the State Financial Aid Association (ISFAA) followed by opening of the first Financial Aid Office in Indiana University. This led to other colleges also joining the ISFAA and thus, the students of Indiana had before them a new opening to pay for their education.

It was in 1957 when Russia launched their first ever successful satellite into space, that it hit the American government that they were in the race to put the first person in space and this had a huge impact of the history of financial aid in America. It is then that realized that to achieve this challenging feat, they would have to have as many high school graduates something which would not be impossible as this was out of reach for many due to financial constraints. So with the guidance of the ISFAA, the federal government formed a working financial aid program.

Thus, after World War II, many student loans with low interest with log repayment periods were introduced and by the end on 1965 most of the loans that are used today became popular. As the cost of education continued to rise, so did the help from the government which introduced many new schemes which made it easy for the students from the lower-income families and one that is worth mentioning here is the Parents’ PLUS Loan Program in 1981, making them a invaluable resource to our country.