A friend of mine is trying to go back to school to finish up four year degree. 90% of the loans they were approved for are unsubsidized which means they have to pay for the interest that accrues while they are in school. Ive only had subsidized but has anyone here had an unsubsidized loan and did you regret getting it once you finished and had to start paying it back including the back interest?

I think she is mainly worried about having an enormous payment once she finishes school due to the accrued interest.

In all my years of higher education (10 to be exact), I avoided unsubsidized loans like the plague. I think I took out one and that was for only a few thousand.

This is what I will tell your friend, if she is going to be in school for a few years and can only take out unsubsidized loans.... make sure to make monthly payments on the interest. They will be relatively small, but she'll basically be doing what the government is doing for people who take out the subsidized student loans.

If she does not pay the interest, the interest will be added to the principle balance, and the next month more interest will be charged to the "new" balance. A nasty snowball effect can occur.

Has she exhausted all of her other options for funding?