Interest rates on federal student loans are fixed, but they change on new loans disbursed on or after July 1 of any given year. This simply means, for example, that if you borrow four direct unsubsidized loans for each year of dental school, you will graduate with four loans, each of which has a different, but fixed, interest rate.

The interest rates on new federal loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2022, were just announced! 

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No doubt you’ve heard about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program where the federal government forgives your student loan debt after you work in the nonprofit sector for 10 years. One of the questions we often get is whether payments made during gap years prior to dental school can help a borrower qualify for PSLF. 

Read on as Paul Garrard, national student loan expert and ADEA Senior Advisor for Student Financial Services, breaks down the ins and out of PSLF.

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“Students enrolled in any degree program usually have many questions about financial aid, especially student loans,” says Paul Garrard, national student loan expert and ADEA Senior Advisor for Student Financial Services. “Over the years, I’ve received questions pertaining to whether there could be or will be any changes to the degree programs and if those changes will impact their finances—either during school or later when they are repaying any student loan amounts they may have borrowed.” 

Keep reading to see what tips Garrard has for those considering how to pay for their dental hygiene education.

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“As an applicant to or a student enrolled in a dental education program, you will often hear ‘borrow responsibly and never borrow more than you need,’” says Gardner Key, Director of Financial Aid at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. 

“Why? Because being a responsible borrower means that when you become a dentist, you are typically not stressed about what you borrowed for dental school because you feel confident you can responsibly repay your loans. While finances are an important part of your decision about which dental school to attend, it is important to remember they are only one part of this decision.”

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Did you know the interest rate on federal direct loans is now 0%? That’s right, and that’s only one of several ways the U.S. government is helping student loan borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul Garrard, national student loan expert and ADEA Senior Advisor for Student Financial Services, provides updates and a quick breakdown of what options are currently available for student borrowers.

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This dynamic and highly interactive student loan webinar recording, How Student Loans Work, features one of the nation’s leading experts on student loans and educational debt management for health sciences students―including dental students and graduates. ... See More

As the costs of dental school continue to increase, so too does the average dental student loan indebtedness. Remember, tuition and fees are parts of your cost of attendance (COA) over which you have no control, so it’s important to review your living costs to help reduce your overall cost and to help reduce borrowing.

Financial aid advisor, Tony Glad, has financial planning advice for predental and new dental students. 

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If you’re thinking about going to dental school, there are some key things to consider and questions to ask yourself. This includes knowing how to borrow responsibly if you must take out student loans and having access to resources that help prepare you to repay your loans responsibly after you graduate. Consider these list of questions.

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If you’re thinking about enrolling in dental school and you’re considering federal loans to pay for your dental education, you must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or a Renewal FAFSA yearly to be considered for financial aid. Even if you aren’t sure that you are going to use federal loans to pay for dental school, it is wise to go ahead and complete the FAFSA, because you never know when it may come in handy. ... See More

What is a gap year? A “gap year” is a span of time between the end of undergraduate education and the beginning of dental school. It can be longer than a year, depending on your circumstances.

When taking a gap year, there are important steps every student should consider or take if they anticipate needing financial aid for dental school, dental hygiene programs or any other graduate degree program following their gap year. 

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