As the uncertain economy continues to discourage high school students from applying to colleges and college students from entering the job market, as well as invoking financial uncertainty at every level, student-loan company Sallie Mae is offering a solution — more student-loan options.Sallie Mae, the nation’s leading college savings and loan company, has introduced the new “Smart Option Student Loan” in an attempt to enable students to cut the debt they face after graduation. But economics instructor Kaj Gittings said the option could aid students nearly as much as it could deter students.”Students are going to end up paying less money,” Gittings said of the loan. “Basically, one of two things is going to happen. They’re not going to get [the loans] or they’re actually not going to go to college.”Paying interest on the loan while still in school could save the student thousands while cutting the amount of time required to pay off the loan in half, Patricia Christel, spokeswoman for Sallie Mae, said in an e-mail.”A typical student with the average loan size of about $8,000 would make monthly interest-only payments of about $70 while in school,” Christel said. “As a result, [they] could save almost $9,000 over the life of the loan and pay off in six years instead of 15.”In the long run, the loan winds up being cheaper because paying interest while enrolled in school would dramatically cut down the amount of money owed on the loan after graduation, Gittings said of the difference, calling it “astounding.”The new loan offered by Sallie Mae is private. Sallie Mae issued about $6.3 billion in private student loans in 2008.Gus Wales, Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance spokesman, said private loans are used after “all federal student loan monies” options have been exhausted.Crystal Oubre, assistant director for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Student Aid, said while Student Aid encourages students to opt to pay interest on their loans while enrolled in college, private loans are more of a last-ditch resort for students who still need money after scholarships, grants and federal loans.”We have them exhaust all avenues before ever certifying a private loan,” Oubre said. “Any private loan is going to have a higher interest rate than the Stafford Loan funded by the government.”Student Aid has processed about 600 private loans in the past year, Oubre said.–Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]