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Colorado Student Loans

Skiing, mountain climbing, and the general outdoors — these are the things that define the great state of Colorado. It's no wonder so many college-age students aspire to attend an institute of higher learning in Colorado and so few residents wish to leave. However, the cost of attending a school in Colorado can be especially prohibitive because of the great demand for a place in these colleges and universities. In order to assist those who do take the plunge, Colorado student loans are administered through the Colorado College Access Network, also known as the Colorado Student Loan Program, offering affordable interest rates to cover the cost of tuition and other fees.

The CCAN assists borrowers in creating and managing accounts, making payments, and applying for deferral on payments. While private loans are not administered through CCAN, the organization does have information to help interested parties move in the right direction. What CCAN does provide is federal loans through the use of tax exempt state funds that save the state and the consumer both large sums of money. There are several options for loan repayment on these lending plans:

The Standard repayment plan extends the length of repayment to the typical 10 years and configures payments to be the same throughout the term of the loan.

The extended plan is for those who have a lot of debt to repay and need to extend their repayment terms beyond the typical 10 years (for example, medical students or even law students).

The Income Sensitive repayment plan takes into account that you may not immediately land the perfect job, and your paycheck may not cover large payments and therefore conforms to payments that are affordable to you.

The Graduated repayment plan starts out with very low monthly payments to help you first get on your feet and increases to higher payments over time.

CCAN also has access to what is referred to as Colorado's Free Money Program, which sets aside a certain amount of finances from the state for every student heading to college. No credit checks are required, and any student pursuing their first college degree through a state college or university may apply.

Paying for school is not easy, but we are here to help. OEDb's student finance section will help you find the money you need to pay your tuition and other college expenses. We cover scholarships, college grants, and student loans. Scholarships and grants are both forms of "free money", meaning they don't need to be paid back. Scholarships are typically awarded by businesses or individuals, with the money being earmarked specifically for tuition. They can be awarded based on a student's location or by religious affiliation, such as Catholicism or Islam. Grants are typically awarded by governments or non-profit organizations and the money often can be applied to several different expenses a student may incur, not solely tuition. They can be awarded based on location or ethnicity, for instance African American or Hispanic. Loans are not considered "free money", because unlike scholarships and grants, they do need to be paid back after graduation. Common federal loans include Perkins and Stafford. Loans are also available by location.