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Pay 4 College
Off to college? Or, preparing to send a child or grandchild to college? Either way, you're smart to be thinking about the best options to pay for education and manage finances. With our cooperative credit union network, students have access to over 3,200 branches and 30,000 ATMs to use for no fee. So wherever you are headed to for your higher education, we can be there with you. We have several great options for saving for future education expenses, and we even offer private student loans to help cover the difference between savings, financial aid and college expenses.
Preparing for College
The process of deciding which school to attend, and what to major in, can be as difficult as deciding how you will pay for it. Find helpful advice and criteria to consider when evaluating schools as well as tips on how to find free money and financial aid to help pay for school. Click here for our college preparation guide.
Private Student Loans
A private student loan can help you fund the gap between college expenses and financial aid so you can focus on what you want to do with your life and not how you're going to pay for it. The Darden Employees Federal Credit Union Smart Option Student Loan® by Sallie Mae® offers three repayment options and competitive interest rates to help you pay for certified college expenses.
VISA® Credit Cards
Credit cards may have earned a nasty reputation for all that is evil, but let's face it, everybody (including students) should carry one.And the one you carry should have no annual fee (like ours),a low fixed-rate (like ours), and the VISA logo (like ours)to ensure you are getting the best value and convenience possible.
Checking
A checking account will come in handy for paying your bills while you're at school. Ours comes with free online banking, free mobile banking, free bill pay and access to over 65,000 surcharge-free ATMs and 5,000 shared branch locations. So no matter where college or career may take you, you will always have easy access to all your accounts. There are no minimum balances and no monthly fees.
Savings
Thinking about your child or grandchild's future? You can set up a savings account specifically for funds you would like to set aside for his or her college education.
Share Certificates
If you are planning in advance for your child or grandchild's college education, you may be interested in a share certificate. It's just like a certificate of deposit, only it's called, well, something else.
Commit to keeping your money on deposit for a set term and we're willing to pay you a higher return. The longer you commit to, the more we pay you. Pretty simple. We shop rates all over the country to make sure we are competitive.
A share certificate is a great way to have your money work for you while you are saving up for a child's education.
IRAs
One of the many tax advantages of our IRAs is penalty-free withdrawals for qualified higher education expenses. If you are saving for a child's education, keep in mind that money you contribute to your IRA may be used for college payments. Contact a branch about opening an IRA.
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