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Student LoansThere are many waysto pay for college.Taking out a governmentstudent loanthat is repaid afteryou graduate is oneway to pay for school.Currently, there arethousands of unpaidstudent loans. Whena loan is not repaid,the government cantake legal action tocollect payment. Therecovery of unpaidloans allows futurestudents to borrowmoney for college.Should the governmentbe allowed totake your tax refundif you don’t repayyour student loan?Why or why not?Get InvolvedResearch the U.S.Department ofEducation for moreinformation aboutstudent loans. Getthe facts, and borrowresponsibly.terms become a part of the contract. This exception applies only if thefollowing conditions are met:l The new or different terms do not make a material or crucialdifference to the nature of the contractl The offeror does not object to the new or different terms within areasonable timel The original offer did not expressly limit acceptance to the termsin that original offerMethods of AcceptanceThe time at which an acceptance takes place is important becausethat is when the contract comes into existence. When the parties aredealing face-to-face or on the telephone, no special problem exists.One party speaks, and the other listens and communicates the offer orthe acceptance.Special rules, however, govern acceptances that take place whenthe parties are separated by a distance and must communicate by letters,telegrams, or fax. According to common law, an acceptance thatmust be sent over long distances is effective when it is sent. Anymethod of communication that has been expressly or impliedlyendorsed by the offeror would qualify. Common law also says that anacceptance is implied when the offeree accepts by the same or a fastermeans than that used by the offeror.The authorization of an acceptance can also be implied by any reasonablemeans, including past practices between the parties, the usualmethod in the trade, or the customary means in comparable transactions.Naturally, the offeree must correctly address the acceptance sothat it is delivered to the right place. If the address is faulty, the acceptanceis not complete until delivery has been made to the offeror. It isalso possible for the offeror to specify the time by which the acceptancemust be received to be effective.This rule applies to contracts for real estate and services. For saleof-goodscontracts under the UCC, the acceptance takes place when itis sent, as long as the method of communication is reasonable.Consequently, the acceptance of a mailed offer for goods would beeffective when it is sent electronically, via fax, or through an overnightcarrier. If the offeror states in the offer what method the offeree mustuse to accept, that method must be followed.Sometimes an offer specifies that it must be accepted by an action.In these cases, the action must take place before there is an acceptance.For example, Larry McNulty promised to pay Floyd Little $50 to dona gorilla suit and march with the band at a football game’s halftime.Floyd would have to perform the action to accept the offer.The offeror cannot impose silence on the offeree as the means ofacceptance unless he or she has previously agreed to this condition or118 Unit 2: Entering into Contracts