In the United States, all these loans are based on financial need. The student initiates his or her application for the loan by completing a FAFSA.

Any students, who hesitate to complete a FAFSA, perhaps because they fear that they would not qualify for a loan, should go online and obtain a FAFSAcaster.

Determining Eligibility for Government Student Loans

What is the FAFSAcaster? The FAFSAcaster allows a student to calculate his or her eligibility for one of the government student loans.

The online FAFSAcaster offers information on the various types of academic pursuits that can be financed by government student loans.

If the information on the FAFSAcaster were to tell a student that he or she qualified for a government loan, then that student would undoubtedly want to know how to get such a loan.

Other information on the same website as the FAFSAcaster lists the various sources of the government student loans.

That list of sources might cause a student to have more questions that relate to these types of loans. Counselors, who can be contacted through the FAFSAcaster website, stand ready to offer students some helpful answers. The website with the FAFSAcaster operates under the name "Knowhow2go."

Assessments That Assist Those Wanting a Government Student Loan

Any student who would like to have one of the government student loans can benefit from conducting a self-assessment.

Such an assessment usually begins with a search for the answer to this question: "What is your interest?" A follow-up question to that would be this: "What is your learning style?"

Once the student has carefully assessed his or her interests, then that student can study the further questions made available on Careervoyages.

That is a website designed to help students in all levels consider the advantages of government loans. Students in high school and middle school should be told about Careervoyages.

That website explains clearly what classes a student needs to take in high school if he or she hopes to pursue a particular career.

If, for example, a young high school girl wants to become a landscape architect, she will find that she needs to take a technical drawing course in high school.

The same website can help any student select a school or group of schools that would be likely to accept their application. Some schools only accept students with a high grade point average, and students who have scored well on their college boards.

Once any student has conducted a thorough self-assessment, then that student is ready to proceed to the next step.

After using the tools on Careervoyages, a student can better go after one or more of the government student loans.