The direct student loan program was set up by the Department of Education as one of the Federal Student Aid programs. It's a wonderful way for people to follow their dreams by attending college or graduate school. It's not only set up to help you pay for school, it's set up to help you want to stay in school. See, as you move through college, you are eligible for more money.

The Money You Can Get

First of all, you will need to determine if you are a dependent or independent student. A dependent student is anyone who is 24 years or older, married, in graduate or professional school, a veteran, an orphan, a ward of the court or anyone who has legal dependents other than a spouse. A dependent student is anyone who does not fit into at least one of those categories.

For the first year as an undergraduate, a dependent student is eligible for $2,625 and an independent for $6,625. By the time you hit your third and fourth year as an undergrad, a dependent can get up to $5,500 and an independent can get $10,500. Now, some of you are probably thinking that you need much more than that per year. These are the numbers for each loan.

There are four kinds of direct loans. They are Federal Direct Stafford, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford, Federal Direct PLUS and Federal Direct Consolidation. The first two are for students directly. The PLUS loan is for parents of dependent students. The consolidation is so you can combine two or more federal loans to make one monthly payment.