Hi , I currently have a private student loan from wells fargo for $8000, I was not able to apply for the stafford loan this quarter. But I can next quarter. As everyone knows the private loans have really high interest rates and compound interest DURING school. I end up having to pay 3x of what I borrowed. I was wondering if next quarter I get the stafford FA loan. Can I use that money to pay off my private loan?

If you are eligible for the Stafford loan, you can use it to cover educational expenses. Assuming you use the Stafford loan to pay off a private loan - you won't have those funds to cover costs for the next semester. If you have those future costs covered - then you can use extra funds to pay down other educational expenses.

The short answer is yes.

What if financial aid is able to cover my expenses but I still want to pay off the private loan with the gov loan. An I still able to take out thy loan to pay off my private even if I don't need much of it to pay for expenses on the next quarter. Right now I have an 8k loan from wells Fargo to pay for this quarter because I don't have any FA right now so I guess what I'm asking is can I still borrow 8k from stafford loan next quarter even tho I don't really need it for that quarter, I just need it to pay off my private loan in full because their rates/plan is really high