Free Primary Research Papers

Free Primary Research PapersIf you have a question about free primary research papers, you have likely gone through the process of asking someone else. You will know what questions to ask because you are already asking them. Maybe you are working with a mentor or someone in your field. You can then make a point of asking for research papers that they've previously requested and gotten.When you start searching for primary research papers, don't limit yourself to local colleges or universities. Ask around and see if anyone has gotten an undergraduate research paper or post-graduate research paper. You may get lucky and you will be able to gain some invaluable contacts in the process.The most common way of obtaining research papers is online. It is relatively easy to find a great deal of information online that can help you make your decision. Be sure to look for free samples before you subscribe to the course and pay for anything. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. Some companies online offer free primary research papers. Check and see if they are offering all their services for free before you commit to anything. Some of the providers of free primary research papers offer exclusive discounts for buying from them.You should also make sure you are saving money when it comes to getting your research papers. Some providers of free primary research papers require you to become a paying member in order to access the material you will need. If this sounds like something you are willing to do, get a good deal on the amount of articles you need.Some primary research papers offer several different pricing plans for different types of articles. If you are a student and you plan on studying more than one area, you may want to get a more expensive plan. You can also use it to cover article fees when you need them.Finally, don't just stick with a single provider of primary research papers. There are plenty of options online, and some even offer free sample s that you can look at to see if it is right for you. This will allow you to compare providers and see which ones may be best for you.If you are looking for primary research papers that you can complete for credit, the internet is your best bet. Get the sources for your papers, see if any articles are covered by a discount, and compare prices until you find the best deal for you.

The Law of Life Essay Topics

The Law of Life Essay TopicsHave you ever sat down and studied the Law of Life Essay topics? Do you know what they say about applying yourself consistently and the fact that people who do are usually rewarded? What if you could determine exactly which life topics are the best and how to apply yourself when you are trying to write a life essay? What if you could find out where you might be going wrong?So let's start by looking at what you should never do and if you have been guilty of it. Read on...If you make sure that you never start an essay off with something too generic, you are only going to frustrate yourself and be disappointed in your writing. So how do you avoid this?Another law that you should never break is that of editing yourself. If you get past the generic section, you should go ahead and edit yourself but don't go overboard. You need to be honest and you need to stay within some type of standard, like whether or not you are going to use the dictionary word and even yo ur own first language words.One more law to keep an eye out for is that of using too many long paragraphs. The longer a paragraph is, the less likely it is to capture the reader's attention. The shorter the better.Finally, it is good to remember that the Law of Life is a tough one to work out and many people who have struggled with it and have been able to get through it, have since gone on to become very successful people. You should not try to break this law, but just observe it.There is a lot of things to keep in mind when you are trying to apply the Law of Life, but once you get over those issues youwill most likely start to reap the rewards. So how do you apply the Law of Life? You really just need to follow a few simple steps and you will soon start to see results.

The Rights Of Fellow American Citizens - 1400 Words

The Complacent Majority Students across the United States stand before the American flag pledging an allegiance to a country that protects every citizen’s â€Å"unalienable rights†. Students are raised to devote their life to a country they are born into by chance. Unknown to them, they are subject to the laws and regulations of an outside world that boasts freedom, yet imposes a pledge amongst children. The American government was once a country of dissent and rebellion. However, as citizens become radical in the midst of chaos, cower in the face of defeat, comply to a vocal minority, silence their voice in fear of a powerful nation, abuse of power becomes prevalent, and citizens must practice the most American form of democracy— civil†¦show more content†¦In fact, most Japanese American’s recount this moment in history as a traumatic experience as they were forced to leave their homes due to an unjust law. Attorney General Biddle as well as form er Secretary of War Henry Stimson, believed there was â€Å"no reasons for mass evacuation† (Irons 41), and that â€Å"[Americans] cannot discriminate among [citizens] on the ground of racial origin† (Irons 41). American’s are raised to believe the founding fathers had the best interests of all citizens, and the Constitution and Bill of Rights are guidelines for all branches of government. In a 6 to 3 Supreme Court ruling against Hirabayashi, a new precedent was set that opposed the guidelines of law. Although the prosecution had no legal grounds to convict Hirabayashi as anti-Japanese laws conflict with the laws of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, â€Å"the Court’s historic malevolence against minorities† (Irons 5) tends to rule in favor of injustice. Popular opinion was that Hirabayashi’s conviction was the result of government precautions during wartime. In reality, radical opinions fueled the fears of Americans who unknowingly sacri ficed their freedom for the illusion of safety. Historic government feats are the basis for modern political ideology. American democracy was built on the successes of both the Greek and Roman empire along with a socialist safety net. TheShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Movie If I Die 1713 Words   |  7 PagesStates has become involved in with military action. The Vietnam War is one that the United States had no direct reason to become a part of the conflict. Even though we weren’t directly attacked by Vietnam to initiate American involvement in the war, the leadership of the American government, at the time, thought it was necessary for the United States to get involved to help stop the spread of communism. Many people disagreed with the decision to go to war in Vietnam and one of those people whoRead MoreJohn F. Kennedys Inaugural Address1049 Words   |  5 PagesInaugural Address speech, that is being evaluated today, the author uses social cohesion as a call for the nation to give back to the country, as we should do of course, and to ask, and expect less from the government, but that we should all have equal rights. Social Cohesion is described as the words, values, goals, speeches, and ceremonies that glue a group or society together and serve to maintain social order. John F. Kennedy uses power, freedom and the faith in God as values throughout his InauguralRead MoreScouts Innocent Nature in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee850 Words   |  3 Pagesskin color, yet Scout’s mature and adult superiors cannot, thus revealing her critical tone towards prejudice. In addition, Lee’s critical tone is also expressed by Scout’s perception of the events that take place in Maycomb and the actions of her fellow peers and adults. Another example of Lee’s critical tone towards prejudice can be found when Scout singles out Mr. Cunningham from the lynch mob in front of the jailhouse. Upon Scout’s realization of a famil iar face she asks: â€Å"Hey, Mr CunninghamRead MoreCivil Disobedience By Henry David Thoreau1384 Words   |  6 Pageshistory of mankind, there has been multiple cases of violent and nonviolent opposition. The question is which of these is more appealing than the other. In violent protest, citizens protest against their opposition with violence such as; rioting, vandalizing, arson, assault, and many other forms of violence. In nonviolent protest citizens will protest their opposition peacefully through calm and non-violent protest. This is also known as civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is the most efficient formRead MoreJoseph Jackson Annual Address Rhetorical Analysis1134 Words   |  5 Pagesthinking inside the box, he used different modes of persuasion: logos, pathos, and ethos to convince his fellow Negroes to take action and fight for equality and freedom. We will be examining the context of this speech and Jackson’s perspective and claims. The Annual Address begins by discussing the foundation of our nation, the United States. Into a few paragraphs, he addresses the civil rights struggle and the reason behind it. About half of his speech addresses some advice and suggestions for theRead MoreAlexis de Tocquevilles Democracy in America Essay example982 Words   |  4 Pagesdemocracy work. Throughout his travels Tocqueville noted that private interest and personal gain motivated the actions of most Americans, which in turn cultivated a strong sense of individualism. Tocqueville believed that this individualism would soon sap the virtue of public life (395) and create a despotism of selfishness. This growth of despotism would be created by citizens becoming too individualistic, and therefore not bothering to fulfill their civic duties or exercise their freedom. TocquevilleRead MoreEssay on Why Accountability in the Army Is Important!1009 Words   |  5 Pagesyou will do it. By keeping track of all my items and equipment I can always be ready for anything that is needed of me by my country, my superiors, or other servicemen. Being accountable means being dependable. Where my country, my superiors and fellow servicemen can count on me in any situation. to know I will be there to do what is necessary. Taking responsibility for your own actions and equipment is what keeps things running smoothly. And keeps things from turning into utter chaos. BeingRead MoreThe Freedom Of Privacy Act1078 Words   |  5 Pagesand return privacy back to our nation. V. Preview briefing: The increase of government intrusion has been on the rise since the Patriot Act was turned into law which have infringed on our constitutional rights, and that the Freedom of Privacy Act if on voted by congress will give us back those rights. We will also be taking any question about the act if there are any. Transition: In order to be able to have this vote, allow me to explain what the Freedom of Privacy Act is. BODY I. Our main goal isRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of John F. Kennedys Adgural Speech858 Words   |  4 Pageshistoric inaugural address to a crowd of prominent officials and hopeful Americans. This powerful speech inspired citizens of America as well as nations around the globe. Even those who previously doubted Kennedy’s potential as a president before the election highly respected his opening message. Consequently, his approval rating shot up to 75% following the delivery of this speech, which confirms its profound effect on the American people. Much of the success of this speech is owed to the cautious, preciseRead MoreCivil War And The Vietnam War905 Words   |  4 Pagesantiwar sentiment blossomed through different mediums to convey how dissatisfied some citizens felt against the War’s duration. May 4, 1970 saw college students of Kent State University holding a common antiwar demonstration turn unusually fatal: four students were shot dead and nine others sustaine d wounds. It was the third day in a larger protest at Kent State criticizing the then recent April 1970 move of American troops into Cambodia. No one was injured during the protest’s first two days, but when

Harriet Jacobs Free Essays

â€Å"The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead† (Power 1), Aristotle knew the importance of education; especially literacy. Literacy is what stood between the slaves and the slaves owners. However, some of the enslaved were fortunate enough to possess more intelligence than their owners knew. We will write a custom essay sample on Harriet Jacobs or any similar topic only for you Order Now Harriet Jacobs is one of the few that shared the knowledge of literacy and she knew the power that this held. She used this as her driving force to push through all of the hardships a slave had to endure on a daily basis. Jacobs account in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl truly depict the power of literacy. As a young girl Jacobs learns of her fate to come. â€Å"When I was six years old, my mother died; and then, for the first time, I learned, by the talk around me, that I was a slave† (Jacobs 10). Jacobs blesses her first mistress, Margaret Horniblow, for teaching her to read and spell. From this early age Jacobs begins to see that language and reality are intertwined. Through this interconnected thinking Jacobs discovers how to decode both the word and the world. This causes bitterness towards her mistress Margaret, when she teaches her the bible. â€Å"My mistress had taught me the percepts of God’s word: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. ‘Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them. ’ But I was her slave, and I suppose she did not recognize me as her neighbor† (Jacobs). Jacobs realizes that her mistress does not view her as her neighbor and in turn doesn’t view her as a human being. The hypocrisy sh own to her through the bible infuriates Jacobs. This leads Jacobs to question literacy as a possible pathway to freedom, however, Jacobs ability to read and write never sets her free. â€Å"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave† (Power 1). Henry Peter, Lord Brougham explain this in â€Å"The Present State of the Law†; this statement holds true to the way slave owners held their power over the Slaves. Unlike the biblical reading Jacobs reads with her mistress, the slave owners would warp Christ’s word to make slaves believe that their enslavement was warranted by God. These twisted passages would be read orally by the slave owners. Jacob’s now notices how language can be abused and used against her fellow slaves. As a testament to Jacobs eye opening experiences, Harryette Mullen uncovers the oral abuse slaves endured. This was necessary through the slave owners eyes because they were afraid of rioting and runaway slaves. There plantations depended on the slaves labour, so they needed to make it very clear tot their slaves that whites were of a higher society. â€Å"If institutionalized illiteracy was intended to exempt African Americans from access to or participation in the discursive formations of bourgeois society, then to the extent that it succeed, it also left them outside conventional ideological constructions that played a part in determining white identities† (Mullen 256) Along with these biblical reading slave owners also payed special attention to their women slaves. Most of the time female slaves were sexual harassed and raped. Jacobs was a victim of harassment when she lived in Dr. Flint’s household. â€Å"Illiterate slave women operated within a tradition of resistant orality, or verbal self defense, which included speech acts variously labeled sassy or saucy, impudent, impertinent, or insulant: the speech of slaves who refused to know their place, who contested their assigned social and legal inferiority as slaved and as black women† (Mullen 255). Jacobs was put into dozens of inappropriate situations and these became worse when Dr. Flint discovered Jacobs literacy. Dr. Flint send her sexual letters which Jacobs tells him that she cannot read. â€Å"While Harriet Jacob’s literacy was a tremendous source of empowerment, it also exposed her to an even more concentrated dose of the ideology of domesticity than the training she received while living and working in the homes of white women and observing their behavior† (Mullen 260) Quotes I want to use but I’m not sure how. —- Their texts, by focusing on a continuum of resistance to oppression available to the illiterate as well as the literate, tend to stress orality as a presence over illiteracy as an absence† (Mullen 255). â€Å"Harriet Jacob’s narrative, which may be seen as ascribing gender to the generic (male) narrative genre, demonstrates that it is possible to appropriate bourgeois ideology to affirm the humanity of slaves and illi terates-without Douglass’s rhetorical conflation of literacy, freedom, and manhood, which reinforces rather than challenges the symbolic emasculation of the male slave and the silencing of the female slave. Because she associates the slave’s humanity with defiant or subversive speech, resistant behavior, and the ethics of reciprocal relationships, as well as with writing and individual autonomy, Jacobs affirms the humanity of the collectivity of slaves as well as the successful fugitive and literate narrator† (Mullen 261) â€Å"For Jacobs, literacy serves to record for a reading audience a continuity of experience already constructed and preserved within her family through oral accounts† (Mullen 261). â€Å"Only the educated are free† Epictetus (Power 1) â€Å"Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army† Edward Everett (Power 1) How to cite Harriet Jacobs, Papers

Women In Alien 3 Essays - 20th Century Fox Films,

Women In Alien 3 This morning I was struck by the realization that I've beengoing to movies for fifty years now; starting when I was eighteenmonths old, my mother would take me on a streetcar every Thursday togo shopping, have lunch, and go to a matinee and stage show at thePantages or the Orpheum in downtown Los Angeles. Clearly I likemovies and I usually find something enjoyable even about bad ones.I can hardly remember a time when I have seriously consideredwalking out of a film. But I considered it yesterday afternoon asI was watching Aliens 3; I was thinking it was the mostunremittingly unpleasant film viewing experience I could remember. This reaction has to be seen in the context of my own tastes andbiases. Science fiction and horror films are my least favoritegenres. I don't enjoy being frightened in the movies, as somepeople clearly do. Nonetheless, knowing that nearly every memberof the women's community in Tallahassee where I lived at the timewas wildly enthusiastic about Sigourney Weaver' s Ripley, I didbring myself to see Aliens the second film in this series, and Ihave to admit, I too, was entertained and pleased by the sight ofthis powerful female hero doing her Rambo number against whatfeminist theorist Lynda Zwinger called the uncanny alien bugmother. Since Ripley's ongoing battles against this monster and againstthe greedy machinations of the Company back home, which wants tocapture the monster and use it as a biological warfare weapon, havebecome sort of feminist cult films, I figured I'd better be amongthe first to check out Aliens 3 and see what happened to Ripleyand Newt (the little girl she rescued from the monster at the endof Aliens). Well, they've fallen on hard times. They crash landnear an island used as a prison for 25 of the hardest corecriminals on earth--murderers, rapists, etc.--all of whom havebecome members of a kind of Christian fundamentalist cult thathasn't done a thing to temper their rampant misogyny. Everyoneelse on the space capsule brin ging the sleeping survivors of theNostromo back to earth has died except Ripley. She's been asleepfor 50 years or so and has been shaken up in the crash, so she'slooking a little the worse for wear with a black eye and deathlypallor. Furthermore in this latter day version of a medievaldungeon she's landed they dress her in convict gray and shave herhead which makes her fit right in with the inmates. The onlyperson there who's even remotely pleasant is the doctor, himself aformer inmate, with whom Ripley asks to have sex (it's been over 50years, you know); while we don't see them in the act, theimplication was it was purely the utilitarian satisfaction of anurge, still Ripley has to pay the price for it later on. The whole visual milieu of the film is grim. The colorspectrum is dark browns and blacks, dirty tans and grays, fiery,hellish yellows and reds. The only spots of other colors are a fewpieces of turquoise blue stained glass in the doctor's quarters, tolet you know he had some aesthetic sensibilities, I guess. The setis something like an abandoned underground steel mill with miles of filthy, rotting, decaying tunnels. The only organic matter we seeis blood and gore, the monster, and this wholly gruesome pack ofconvicts who do, out of terror and the notion they have nothing tolose, do come together under Ripley's leadership to try to kill thething with no weapons but the decaying prison itself to use. Aliens at least had some spots of humorous repartee. Aliens3 has almost none. It's grim, grim, grim. And though Sigourneyhas a few heroic moments, she's sick and weak and not up to her previous standards. Though this time--I think--she finally does inthe alien bug mother and its children. I hope so, I don't thinkthe world can use yet another Alien movie. Film and Cinema

The Cape Cod Style House in the New World

The Cape Cod Style House in the New World The Cape Cod style house is one of the most recognized and beloved architectural designs in America. When British colonists traveled to the New World, they brought a housing style so practical that it endured through the ages. The modern day Cape Cod houses you see in nearly every part of North America are modeled after the rugged architecture of colonial New England. The style is a simple one - some may call it primitive with a rectangular footprint and gable pitched roof.  You will rarely see a porch or decorative embellishments on a traditional Cape Cod home. These houses were designed for easy construction and efficient heating. Low ceilings and a central chimney kept rooms comfortable during cold winters in the northern colonies. The steep roof helped slough off the heavy snow. The rectangular design made additions and expansions an easy task for growing families. Fast Facts: Colonial Cape Characteristics Post and beam, rectangular footprintOne story with additional half story under roofSide gable roof, fairly steepCenter chimneyShingle or clapboard exterior sidingCenter front door, two double-hung windows on each sideLittle ornamentation History The first Cape Cod style homes were built by Puritan colonists who came to America in the late 17th century. They modeled their homes after the half-timbered houses of their English homeland, but adapted the style to the stormy New England weather. Over a few generations, a modest, one- to one-and-a-half-story house with wooden shutters emerged. Reverend Timothy Dwight, a president of Yale University in Connecticut, recognized these houses as he traveled throughout the Massachusetts coastline, where Cape Cod juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. In an 1800 book describing his travels, Dwight is credited with coining the term Cape Cod to describe this prolific class or type of colonial architecture. Traditional, colonial-era homes are easily identifiable - rectangular shape; moderately steep roof pitch with side gables and a narrow roof overhang; one story of living area with a half story of storage area below the roof. Originally they were all constructed of wood and sided in wide clapboard or shingles. The facade had a front door placed at the center or, in a few cases, at the side - multi-paned, double-hung windows with shutters symmetrically surrounded the front door. The exterior siding was originally left unpainted, but then white-with-black-shutters became the standard later on. Homes of the original Puritans had little exterior ornamentation. Cape Cods styles smaller than what is known as double Capes include the single Cape with a facade of two windows to the side of the front door, and the three-quarter Cape with a front door offset from the center chimney allowing only one window on the short side. The rectangular interior could be divided or not, with a large central chimney linked to a fireplace in each room. No doubt the first homes would have been one room, then two rooms - a master bedroom and a living area. Eventually there may have been a center hall in a floor plan of four rooms, with a kitchen addition in the back, separated for fire safety. Certainly a Cape Cod house had hardwood floors that replaced original dirt floors, and what interior trim there was would be painted white - for purity. 20th Century Adaptations Much later, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, a renewed interest in Americas past inspired a variety of Colonial Revival styles. Colonial Revival Cape Cod houses became especially popular during the 1930s and later. Developers and architects anticipated a building boom after World War II. Pattern books and catalogs flourished and publications held design competitions for practical, affordable dwellings to be bought by a burgeoning American middle class. The most successful marketeer  who promoted the Cape Cod style is considered to be the architect Royal Barry Wills, a  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-educated marine engineer.  Although Willss designs do indeed breathe sentiment, charm, and even sentimentality, their dominant characteristics are reticence, modesty of scale, and traditional proportions, writes art historian David Gebhard. Their small size and scale exuded puritanical simplicity on the outside and tightly organized spaces on the inside - a combination that Gebhard likens to the inner workings of a marine vessel. Wills won many competitions with his practical house plans. In 1938 a Midwestern family chose a Wills design for being more functional and affordable than a competing design by the famous Frank Lloyd Wright. Houses for Good Living in 1940 and Better Houses for Budgeteers in 1941 were two of Wills most popular pattern books written for all the dreaming men and women waiting for the end of World War II. With floor plans, sketches, and Dollar Savers from an Architects Handbook, Wills spoke to a generation of dreamers, knowing that the U.S. government was willing to back up that dream with GI Bill benefits. Inexpensive and mass-produced, these 1,000-square-foot houses filled a need for the rush of soldiers returning from the war. In New Yorks famous Levittown housing development, factories churned out as many as 30 four-bedroom Cape Cod houses in a single day. Cape Cod house plans were heavily marketed in the 1940s and 1950s. Twentieth century Cape Cod houses share many features with their colonial ancestors, but there are key differences. A modern-day Cape will usually have finished rooms on the second story, with large dormers to expand the living space. With the addition of central heating, the chimney of a 20th century Cape Cod is often more conveniently placed at the side of the house instead of the center. The shutters on modern Cape Cod houses are strictly decorative (they cant be closed during a storm), and the double-hung or casement windows are often single-paned, perhaps with faux grills. As 20th century industry produced more construction materials, exterior siding changed with the times - from traditional wood shingles to clapboard, board-and-batten, cement shingles, brick or stone, and aluminum or vinyl siding. The most modern of adaptations for the 20th century would be the garage facing front so the neighbors knew you owned an automobile. Additional rooms attached to the side or rear created a design that some people have called Minimal Traditional, a very sparse mashup of the Cape Cod and Ranch style houses. Cape Cod Bungalow Cottage Modern-day Cape Cod architecture often mingles with other styles. It is not unusual to find hybrid houses that combine Cape Cod features with Tudor cottage, Ranch styles, Arts and Crafts or Craftsman bungalow. A bungalow is a small home, but its use is often reserved for a more Arts and Crafts design.  A cottage is used more often to amplify the house style described here. The Dictionary of Architecture and Construction defines a Cape Cod cottage as a rectangular frame house with low one-story eaves, white clapboarded or shingle walls, gabled roof, large central chimney, and front door located on one of the long sides; a style frequently used for small houses in the New England colonies during the18th cent. The names we attach to our residential architecture is telling of the times. People who live in small Cape Cod styles homes will rarely use the word cottage to describe where they live. People of means, however, with enough money to have a summer home, might describe their second (or third) home as a cottage - as happened during the Gilded Age with the mansion-cottages of Newport, Rhode Island and elsewhere. Sources Baker, John Milnes. American House Styles: A Concise Guide. Norton, 2002capelinks.com. Cape Cod How Can You Recognize an Original Cape Cod Style House?   capelinks.com/cape-cod/main/entry/how-can-you-recognise-an-original-cape-cod-style-house/Gebhard, David. Royal Barry Wills and the American Colonial Revival. Winterthur Portfolio, Vol. 27,  No. 1 (Spring, 1992), The University of Chicago Press, p. 51Goldstein, Karin. The Enduring Cape Cod House. Pilgrim Hall Museum. pilgrimhall.org/pdf/Cape_Cod_House.pdf  Harris, Cyril M. ed. Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. McGraw-Hill, p. 85Library of Congress. Cape Cod Houses Recorded by the Historic American Buildings Survey. July 2003. loc.gov/rr/print/list/170_cape.htmlMcAlester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses. Knopf, 1984, 2013Old House Online. Cape Cod Cottage History of Cape Cod Architecture. August 4, 2010. https://www.oldhouseonline.com/house-tours/original-cape-cod-cottage Walker, Lester. American Shelter: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Home. Overlook, 1998

What is a Federal Perkins Loan How Do You Get One

What is a Federal Perkins Loan How Do You Get One SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips There are a lot of great federal aid options out there, for every type of student. The Perkins loan may just be one of many types of federal loans, but it comes with a lot of perks that make it worth an in-depth look.I'll go through all the information you need about this loan program, before telling you how to get your own Perkins loan. What Is the Perkins Loan? Like the Direct Subsidized and Direct Unsubsidized programs, Perkins are government-backed, low-interest loans that are meant to help students pay for school. Certain federal aid programs don't require students to demonstrate financial need as an eligibility requirement, like Direct Unsubsidized loans. The Perkins is meant for students who demonstrate exceptional financial need, however; as such, there are some extra perks built into the loans. Before I talk about some of the benefits of the Perkins loans, I'll talk briefly about how loans usually work. Then, I'll go into more Perkins loans details, and explain how this loan program differs from the norm. What It Means to Take Out a Loan When you take out a loan, by definition, you're borrowing a sum of money (a principle) from a person or institution (a lender), with the promise that you'll pay this money back at a later date. You'll likely also agree to repay extra money in addition to the principle (interest), over a certain time period (the length of the loan). People usually pay back their student loans by making monthly payments after they graduate. A part of the payment covers accrued (accumulated) interest, whereas the rest of it goes towards paying back the principle. Interest accrues on your loan at a certain rate, usually starting when the loan amount is given out to you (disbursed). The higher your interest rate, and the longer it takes you to pay back your loan, the more interest will accrue. Standard repayment terms for federal student loans (unless the loans are quite small) are 120 monthly payments, or 10 years. Finally, interest can also capitalize, or be added to your principle amount. What this ultimately means is that interest is now accruing on a new, larger principle; the bigger the principle, the more interest will accrue. The rate of capitalization depends on your loan, but some student loans capitalize at graduation. As you might have deduced by now, one method of saving money on your loans is to minimize the amount of interest that accrues and/or capitalizes. You'll see in the next section why Perkins loans make this process a little bit easier on student borrowers. Interest may just come to pennies a day, but it can add up to a significant amount over time. What's Unique About Federal Perkins Loans? In the previous section, I noted that interest usually starts accruing when the loan is disbursed. If I take out a loan my freshman fall, interest will accrue through all 4 years of college. When I graduate, I'll owe my principle + 4 years of interest - and depending on the type of loan, this interest may capitalize when I graduate. With Federal Perkins loans, you won't see any interest accrue while you're in school, during grace period, or during a period of deferment. The grace period for a Perkins loan is also a bit longer than the standard: 9 months vs. 6 months, which means another 3 months of no interest post-graduation. Here's an example of how loan repayment might play out. In this example, I have both a Perkins loan and an unsubsidized loan, both disbursed at the beginning of my freshman year. Even though the interest rate is higher for the Perkins loan, you end up paying out a lot more for the unsubsidized loan: Perkins Loan Unsubsidized Loan Interest Rate 5% 4.29% Principle $5,000 $5,000 Balance Due 6 Months Post Graduation $5,000 $5,911 Monthly payment (based on standard 120 month repayment) $53.03 $60.66 Total Amount Paid $6,363.60 $7,279.2 Finally, and perhaps most excitingly, Perkins loans give students the option of loan cancellation or loan forgiveness if they pursue particular job or careerpaths. If you play your cards right, you could walk away without owing any money on your loans. I'll talk more about loan cancellation in the next section. Loan Details The Perkins loan interest rate is currently at 5%, which is only slightly higher than interest rates on Direct Unsubsidized and Direct Subsidized loans. Like I mentioned in the previous section, interest does not accrue during school, grace periods, or deferment periods. There are no other loan fees. Loan money is applied directly to school-related charges (tuition, fees, and on-campus room and board). If there is any money left over after the loan is applied to these charges, you'll receive a refund from your school. You can use this money on any other school-related costs (e.g. transportation, books, personal expenses). Repayment You have 9 months after you leave school, graduate, or drop below half-time status before you have to start making monthly payments on your loan. The standard federal loan repayment option has borrowers making 120 monthly payments (10 years) to pay off the loan in full. Loan Cancellation Cancellation sounds like it would be a bad thing, but when it comes to student loans, cancellation arguably the best thing that can happen. Your Perkins loan debt could be wiped, or canceled, in part or in full if you spend time working in particular fields. There are many different situations that could make you eligible for loan cancellation.Examples of cancellation-eligible positions include law enforcement officer or firefighter, teacher, nurse, medical technician, and even attorney. Factors such as your length of employment, the area you're working in (e.g. if you're serving low-income communities), and the demand for certain services (e.g. if there's a higher demand for teachers in certain subjects) could all affect how much loan cancellation you're eligible for. Working in a cancellation-eligible job would constitute a period of deferment, so no interest would accrue! You can apply for Perkins loan cancellation through your school, or your school's loan servicer.Don't ever assume that your loans will be eligible for cancellation; run everything by your school's financial aid office first, and don't stop making payments until your loan is officially deferred. Loan cancellation won't be right for everybody, but it's a great debt-erasing option for people interested in certain career paths. Perkins Loan Eligibility and Limits As great as the Perkins details sound (especially with the possibility of cancellation), there are unfortunately some eligibility restrictions and limits to keep in mind. In order to be eligible for a Perkins loan, you must: Meet basic federal aid requirements (learn more about these requirements here) Be an undergraduate, graduate, or professional student enrolled in a participating school Demonstrate "exceptional" financial need. Perkins loan borrowers are typically from low-income families; 30% of families with dependent students who took out Perkins loans in 2012 made less than $30,000. The amount of money you can take out in Perkins loans depends on (1) your financial need, and (2) how much money your school can lend. Not everyone who meets basic eligibility requirements will receive Perkins loan options. As such, it's difficult to estimate ahead of time how much money you'll get through the Perkins loan program. Although there's not much you can do to estimate your Perkins loan amount, you can keep loan limits and averages in mind: Maximum undergraduate annual amount: $5,500 Maximum undergraduate lifetime amount: $27,500 Maxiumum graduate annual amount: $8,000 Maximum graduate lifetime amount (includes any undergraduate Perkins loans): $60,000 The average new Perkins loan award is about $2,000, much lower than the annual limits for both undergrads and graduate students. How to Apply Perkins loans sound like pretty good options, right? You can apply for Perkins loans by submitting a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. The application isn't just for Perkins loans - when you submit a FAFSA, you're also considered for Pell Grants and other federal loans. You can get step-by-step instructions for submitting a FAFSA here. Although Perkins loans are government-backed, your Perkins loan lender would be your school, not the US government. Because schools need to have a certain amount of available funds in order to offer these loans to students,not all schools participate in the Perkins loan program. You can find out if a school offers Perkins loans by contacting its financial aid office. As you might have expected, Perkins loan funds tend to be limited, and often run out before the official FAFSA deadline. In order to optimize your chances of getting a Perkins loan, try to submit your FASFA early in the spring semester for the next academic year. For example, if you'd like aid for the 2016-2017 academic year, plan on submitting your FAFSA in January or February of 2016. What's Next? Perkins loans aren't the only federal loans with competitive interest rates. Check out our guide comparing Direct Subsidized and Direct Unsubsidized loans. As great as low interest rates sound, even with the possibility of loan cancellation, there's something even better than money you have to pay back: free money. Learn more about Pell Grants here. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: