When his federal aid ran out, Jason Heller took out private loans to pay for classes and living expenses at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Now the 22-year-old is working on his law degree at University of Baltimore — and he’s $50,000 in debt.

“I just try to put it in the back of my head until school is over,” said Heller, a Towson resident.

But that’s hard for him to do: Lender Sallie Mae harasses him with letters and calls during winter and summer breaks from school.

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In the coming days, students throughout Maryland will sign up for classes, buy textbooks and laptops, and move into dorms and apartments.

More and more students will rely on private loans to cover these expenses, leaving them strapped with mortgage-sized payments for decades after they graduate.

Private lenders bombard students with mailers and e-mails with tempting advertisements: Get $15,000 instantly, or borrow up to $40,000 a year with repayment delayed until after graduation.

But private loan interest rates fluctuate, like credit cards, without any warning. Sometimes they double and triple the congressionally fixed federal loan rate of 6.8 percent.

Student loans granted through federal subsidies are also much more flexible about payment options and deferrals, unlike private lenders, which can sink students’ credit rankings if they fall behind on payments.

An investigation by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo into college financial aid officers receiving kickbacks from lenders has had an unintended chilling effect on school financial aid workers. Some of them may be reluctant to tell students about all their loan options, said Sarah Bauder, UM’s financial aid director.

This opens the door for predatory lenders to take advantage of students who are not financially savvy with increased direct-to-consumer ads, she said.

Many students are applying for private aid without even filling out a free application for federal student aid first.

And increasingly, students are taking out loans to finance a lifestyle with expensive clothes and iPhones.

“I was just talking to a student last week and she had the Coach bag but couldn’t pay for her books,” Bauder said.

The average debt a public college student in Maryland carries totals $14,154, while the typical private school student owes $16,533, according to the Project on Student Debt, a Berkeley, Calif., think tank.

Nationally, students took out $17.3 billion in private loans last year, up 27 percent from 2000, according to the College Board.

But a glimmer of hope is on the horizon.

Congress recently increased the maximum amount students can take out in federal loans this school year, for the first time in 14 years.

The annual subsidized Stafford loan limit for freshmen, for example, increased from $2,625 to $3,500.

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com