Perkins Loans are government loans that are made through participating schools to graduate and undergraduate students who have serious financial need. Perkins Loans are so appealing to students because they have low interest rates associated with them and students who have good or bad credit can generally qualify. When filing a Perkins Loan application, it is important for students and their families to remember that the main qualifying factor for this loan is great financial need. In most simplistic terms, if a student's Expected Family Contribution, or EFC, as it was determined by the government's FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, does not demonstrate the greatest level of financial need, a student may not qualify. However, in recent years, more and more students are easily qualifying for the Perkins Loan due to tough economic times. When filing a Perkins Loan application, it is important to remember that students who received the Federal Pell Grant will also receive priority for the Perkins Loan. Also, in consideration to the Perkins Loan application, it is extremely wise to apply for this loan type as early as possible. Schools who participate in distributing the Perkins Loan do so on behalf of the government, so when loan funds are gone for the Perkins Loan, they are sincerely gone until the next school year. If you think that you will qualify for the Perkins Loan during any school year, it is imperative that you file for this loan as close to January first of a new year as possible. This will ensure that if you do qualify for this loan, you will be able to receive the maximum amount of funding that can be given through the Perkins Loan. Perkins Loan applications can be filed on the internet or through traditional loan application papers which can be located through participating schools and in other such locations. Perkins Loan application filing will not require you to have a cosigner, so you can file whenever the best time is for you. However, it is always wise to remember that filing for the Perkins Loan early in the year is the most ideal time if you are really serious about receiving funding from this government loan type.