Stafford Loans

[TheDude]

Are grad students on stipends with tuition waivers taking these out?

I'm thinking a few things on this front and want to hear from others if I am crazy.

1) I am relatively young to be starting a Ph.D. Consequently, I don't have savings from 2-5 years in the workforce to fall back on. If all goes well this spring I should be able to save 3500-4500$ before I move. A lot of that will be used for initial rent, first and last month, etc. It would be nice to bank a subsidized stafford loan "just in case." I'm pretty confident I am disciplined enough not to touch it. Have others done this? Dumb idea?

2) I owe 36K on a private loan for undergrad. I'd love to trade that debt for federal debt, especially given income-based repayment and other positive incentives provided under the terms of government loans. Is this nuts?

Ya, ya...I know what Stafford loans are suppose to be used for.

If all the money goes into the same account......

I'm just wondering what others are thinking. Based on the verbal conversation pertaining to my offer I am going to get 19,500-22,000K. I think rent is going to run me 9K a year with a roommate in a good situation. I've never really just gotten by and I want to be prepared.