TULSA, Okla — Union High School student Kelis Robinson considered several colleges before choosing the University of Arkansas to study architecture.
"I also visited OU, OSU, KU," she said.
To pay for college, she already has a gymnastics scholarship that will pay part of her expenses, and she expects to hear back on other scholarships she's applied for within a few days.
To cover the rest, her parents are weighing their options.
"These are our expenses that we have right now and this is our savings that we have now," Lakeia Robinson said. "Going on the college website and just getting an estimates of about how much will tuition costs for a student living on campus, you know, for a year and then just trying to figure out can this amount fit in our budget."
Like many families, to fill in the gaps the Robinson's are considering student loans but haven't decided whether to go with a private loan through a bank or credit union, or take out a federal student loan.
" I'm going based off of he interest rates, Lakeia Robinson said. "It's like which loan could give me the best interest rate at this moment in time when it comes to paying it back because ideally I want to pay back, you know, the least amount as possible."
Federal student loan interest rates for undergraduate direct federal loans will adjust to 6.392% starting July 1st.
Banks and credit unions may offer cheaper rates on private student loans at that time, but College Financial Aid Counselor Andrew Pentis says there's more to consider than just the interest rate.
"In most cases," said Pentis, "it makes sense for families to still prioritize federal loans over private loans because if they ever to run into problems repaying that debt, they'll have access to some pretty important protections that they may not have with private loans."
Lakeia Robinson is also considering an option offered by her daughter's chosen college.
"There's a monthly payment option, she said, "so we do not have to come up with all the money up-front."
She says this takes the pressure off the family budget and she recommend students and parents check to see if the option is available at their chosen school as well as they plan for how to pay for college.
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