Connecticut offers college students low-interest loans

HARTFORD -- Gov. M. Jodi Rell has announced that the state has money to loan through the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority at a fixed rate of 6.8 percent. Students must make interest payments on their loans while in school. There is a six-month grace period after graduation before they must begin to make payments on principal and interest. The loans are available to any Connecticut resident planning to attend a nonprofit public or private college or university anywhere in the U.S., and students from anywhere in the U.S. can apply for a CHESLA loan to attend a nonprofit public or private college or university in Connecticut. Applications are available online at www.chesla.org.