Stafford loans form part of the FFELP (Federal Family Education Loan Plan) established via Congress in 1965 to provide financial aid to students, originally envisaged to cover those in-need, even in 1965 the definition was somewhat loose and it has been expanded over the years, today Stafford loans provide over 90% of the more than $50 billion dollars distributed every year within the numerous FFELP categories.

One of the ways the original definition of need was rapidly broadened, was to create two different kinds of Stafford loans, which are subsidized and unsubsidized.

In the first circumstance, the Federal Government pays any interest that would normally accrue from the time the loan is taken out until payments begin, normally no payments are due whilst the student remains in school on half-time or greater class loads and for a half a years grace period after leaving school, notwithstanding students may request re-payments to start earlier if his or her situation allow.

Since the interest is subsidized those loans are normally need-based, meaning that aid officials look at student and family incomes in determining whether the student qualifies, the EFC (Expected Family Contribution) number is used to evaluate income information provided on the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) application form, approximately two-thirds of all subsidized Stafford loans provided go to students whose parents have an Adjusted Gross Wages of under $50,000.00 per year, a further 25% are provided to those in the $50,000.00 to $100,000.00 per year bracket, however the definition of needy is indeed very flexible today, since slightly less than 10% of subsidized loans are granted to students whose combined family income is over $100,000.00 per year.

For the students who do not qualify for subsidized loans, a large proportion may be eligible for an unsubsidized Stafford loan, however remain mindful that the interest starts accumulating from the day the money is disbursed until the day it is paid off, even in the situation of a modest $4,000.00 loan at 6.8% the first years interest is approximately $230.00, that $230.00 is then added to the $4,000.00 and interest charges are calculated on the higher total, this example is very oversimplified, since interest amounts are calculated monthly not annually, the exponential equation underlying it is some what complex, however sample scenarios can be viewed using a loan calculator such as one of the popular calculators available on-line.

However since $4,000.00 is a very small amount as student loans go these days, the numbers can actually be much higher given the run-of-the-mill undergraduate student and/or parent borrows about $15,000.00 per year in a mixture of subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans and other sources, you can acquire a detailed breakdown of what can be borrowed and by whom from a range of websites, but remember that fees do apply to any loan, therefore students will genuinely obtain a reduced amount from the stated loan amounts, it's important to keep this information in mind when considering any student loan consolidation information.