If you have been looking into student loans for any time at all, you possibly have heard about AES student loans. AES stands for American Educational Services, which is a division of PHEAA, The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. This agency has been around since 1964. It is one of the largest full-service financial aid institutions in the United States.

Currently available AES student loans include Parent PLUS loans, Graduate PLUS loans, Stafford loans, and several different Alternative loans.

The most popular of all the AES student loans is the Stafford loan program, which offers these features:

• All federal Stafford loans disbursed between July 1, 2009, and July 1, 2010, are fixed at 6.8% with the exception of the undergraduate subsidized Stafford loan, which is fixed at 5.6%.

• No co-signer is required

• No credit check required

• No payments as long as you attend school at least half-time

• Interest payments are subsidized for those who meet the income guidelines

• 6-month grace period after you leave school

• No pre-payment penalties

• Take as long as 10 years to repay – longer with flexible repayment options

For parents who wish to pay for their child's education, there is the Parent PLUS program, which features:

• Fixed interest rate of 8.5%

• Borrow the difference between your child’s cost of attendance and financial aid award

• No income requirements

• Poor credit? May still qualify with credit-ready endorser

• Payments on interest can be tax deductible

• No pre-payment penalties

• Flexible repayment options

There are also AES student loans for graduate students who need to fill the gap between financial aid and school costs. This program is called the Graduate PLUS loan, and it features:

• Interest rate fixed at 8.5%

• Borrow the difference between your cost of attendance and financial aid award

• No payments required while you attend school at least half-time

• No income requirements

• Poor credit? May still qualify with credit-ready endorser

• Payments on interest may be tax deductible

• No penalties for paying your loan off early

• Flexible repayment options

Once you have checked into and applied for grants and scholarships, received a federal Stafford and/or PLUS loan, and still are coming up short to cover costs for college, AES offers Alternative loans that can supplement federal student aid to round out your college funding.

AES also offers federal loan consolidation. With Federal student loan consolidation you can combine one or more of your student loans into a single new loan. If you're having trouble making your monthly student loan payments, then consolidation might be the right option for you.

If you're an undergraduate or a graduate student, with good credit or poor credit, you are almost sure to find that one of the AES student loans fits your situation.