I have a school loan, well I took a semester off.

How do I start paying off my loan so I could go back to school soon?

• I started college in 2002 and did really well. During my last semester, I got put on financial aid and took out a loan. I was very stupid and didn't have transportation anymore, so I decided to quit school. But I did a no call/no show and ended it like that. I lost my fafsa and loan. I do have an interest in going back to school very soon. It's been ten years and I want to set something up where I could take out another loan to pay for my college debt plus pay for the school I want to go to but I don't know how I would get started. How does it work? I have bad credit.

• Answer:

  Is your loan in default? If so you will have to make payments on it until it is paid off before you can get additional financial aid. If it is not in default, you can go back before it's paid off. You will need to reapply for aid but you can not take out a new student loan to pay off your old one. Federal loans are not credit based.