Evalee C. Schwarz Charitable Trust for Education

[fj20]

Has anyone heard of this? Apparently they give interest-free loans to graduate students who: attend an in-state school; have financial need; and have impressive academic records. I'm wondering though, is an interest-free loan all that valuable? Wouldn't a Stafford or Perkins loan be just as good, since there's no interest on them so long as you're in school? (Also, just how severe does one's financial need have to be in order to qualify?)

[Russophile]

If you qualified, this loan would be better than a Stafford loan. Eventually, Stafford loans accrue interest. So if you took out a $10,000 Stafford loan for ten years at the current 6.8% interest, you would ultimately pay back $13809.60. This means you spend $3809.60 on interest payments, even though the loan did not accrue interest while you were in school.

As for your other question, I don't know how much financial need you need to qualify for Perkins or the Evalee C. Schwarz, but I was under the impression that Stafford loans were available to cover any need you had not covered by your EFC or other aid. Good luck!