COLLEGE LOAN CONSOLIDATION

If you’re a parent or ex-student who took out any Federal PLUS Loans or Stafford Loans prior to July 1, 2006, those student loans are subject to variable interest rates that will adjust every year. When interest rates rise, your monthly student loan payments may also go up. If you’re on a tight budget, higher monthly payments may prove difficult to manage. Do you wish, instead, you could have a set monthly payment for your federal student loans that you know would never change? Student loan consolidation may be for you.

Federal student loan consolidation gives you the security of a fixed interest rate. By consolidating your federal parent student loans, you’ll replace your variable-rate college loans with a fixed-rate consolidation loan, so you’ll never have to worry about interest rates rising and leaving you guessing about your monthly payment amount.

Take the Hassle Out of Repaying Your Student Loans

If you have multiple college loans in repayment and you’re juggling multiple bills, multiple due dates, and multiple monthly payments to multiple lenders, a student loan consolidation could help make your repayment easier to manage. With a student loan consolidation program, you can bundle all your eligible federal parent or student loans into one single consolidation loan with just one monthly bill and one monthly payment that’s fixed for the life of your college loan.

Cut Monthly Payments on Your Student Loans by up to 40%

Besides offering you convenience and the security of a fixed interest rate, a student loan consolidation could also help you cut your monthly student loan payments almost in half. When you consolidate your college loans, you may be able to extend the repayment term on your parent or student loans by up to 20 years. With that longer repayment term, since you have more time to repay, the amount you have to pay each month will typically go down. By consolidating your college loans, your monthly payments could go down by up to 40%!

Apply in Minutes to Consolidate Your Student Loans

You can apply for your student loan consolidation in minutes, either online or with a quick phone call to NextStudent. It’s fast, easy, and free to apply, and there are NO fees, NO credit checks, and NO co-signers required.

There are also no prepayment penalties on your Federal Consolidation Loan. When you consolidate your student loans with NextStudent, you’ll never be charged extra for paying more than the minimum each month or for paying off your student loan consolidation early.

Who’s Eligible for Student Loan Consolidation?

To be eligible to consolidate your own federal student loans, you can’t currently be enrolled in school more than half time. The student loans you’re looking to consolidate must be in repayment, in a grace period, or in an authorized deferment or forbearance period.

Your parents can consolidate the PLUS loans they took out to help you pay for school as soon as those student loans have been fully disbursed and have entered repayment, even if you’re still in school full time. Although your parents can consolidate their PLUS loans, you won’t be able to consolidate your own college loans with your parents’ loans.

Student Loan Consolidation for Private Student Loans

If you have private student loans in addition to (or instead of) your federal student loans, you won’t be able to consolidate your private student loans under the federal student loan consolidation program. But you may be eligible to consolidate your private student loans separately with a Private Consolidation Loan, which offers the same convenience of a single consolidated loan for your private student loans.

NextStudent believes that getting an education is the best investment you can make, and we’re dedicated to helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding simple. Learn more about Student Loans, Private Student Loans and Student Loan Consolidation at NextStudent.com.

About the Author:

Jeff Mictabor is an enthusiast on the topic of student loan issues in the news. He has been writing for the past 10 years for a variety of education publications. He now offers his writing services on a freelance basis.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/

Labels: college loan consolidation, federal student loans, student debt consolidation, student loan, student loan consolidation

The cost of a private college education today can rival the cost of a home. And if you graduate from a private college with you diploma buried beneath a mountain of debt, you may be wondering just how long it will take to see any financial benefits from your four years of hard work. After your monthly private college loan payments, there may be barely enough left for the rent, utilities, food, and car payments, never mind the occasional R&R.

Benefits Of Consolidation
But paying back you r private college need not be a cause of financial stress, if you can consolidate it. Private college loan consolidation will relieve you of numerous monthly payments and can also lower your interest rates. You’ll save both time and money, because your private college loan consolidation will take all your student loans and combine them into a single one, leaving you with one monthly payment so that you can budget much more easily. But as with all loans, there are some rules regarding private college loan consolidations.

Consolidation Repayment Options
If your private college loans are courtesy of the Federal government, you will get a more favorable interest rate by arranging a consolidation either while you are enrolled in school or in the six-moth grace period immediately after you graduate. And you will be given four repayment options from which to choose.

* You may ask for a fixed monthly payment over a maximum of ten years;

* You may ask for a fixed monthly payment over an extended period, and the term you are allowed will depend on the amount of your private school loan consolidation but it can between twelve and thirty years;

* You may ask for a graduated repayment plan which will fix your monthly payment for twenty-four months and then increase them in twenty-four month increments, as your income is hopefully rising. A graduate repayment loan can be set for between twelve and thirty years;

* Finally, you may ask for an income contingent repayment plan, with a monthly payment based on the amount of your debt, your adjusted gross income, and the number of people in your family. This repayment plan can extend for twenty-five years.

You can also request a change in repayment plans as your circumstances require.

If your private school loans were federally subsidized Stafford loans, the government will make your interest payments as long as you remain in school, even if you choose to consolidate. If, on the other hand, your private school loans are Perkins loans, you can’t consolidate unless you combine them with at leas one direct of FELP loan.

By: Wade Robins

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

You can also find more info on Private College Loan and Private Education Loan. schoolloanshelp.com is a comprehensive resource to get information about School Loans.

Labels: college loan consolidation, student loan, student loan consolidation

For the good majority of those that have attended college, there are debts to be paid off after you’ve graduated. Tuition costs continue to rise and sometimes it takes more than one loan to pay for those additional costs.

When you’ve had your graduation ceremony, have or have not gotten a job, and six months have gone by you will be expected to start paying those loans back. A college loan consolidation can make that repayment easier on you and your bank account.

There are many companies and banks that offer student loan consolidations. These will take all loans that you have taken during your time in college and combine them into one lump sum. That lump sum will be given one interest rate that will often be less than the interest rate that you’ll get from the loan repayment plan you’re given when you’re close to graduation. You will be able to make smaller payments and work toward the ultimate goal of paying off your student loans.

As you are looking for a student loan consolidation company, be fully aware that there can be huge differences in how their program operates. Be sure to compare costs and interest rates especially. Also be on the lookout for those companies who charge a fee for early pre-payment of the loan they give you, which only serves to lock in the interest that they will be collecting from you on this loan.

Most of the loan consolidation companies will offer an interest rate that is preferable to the one you are paying. If you have more than one student loan, you are paying that interest rate more than one time every month. When it comes right down to it you may end up paying far more than the amount you borrowed if paid over a long period of time.

The consolidation loan will give you the benefit of only paying an interest charge one time per month. This interest rate may be 4 or 5% whereas the student loans that you will be starting to pay back at the end of your six month grace period may be 7 or 8%. Many of the consolidation companies will not have a penalty for early payment, but some of them might. Be sure to find out if this is a penalty before you agree to the consolidation. Be well aware of the details of your payback agreement before you sign the papers for the loan.

Each student loan consolidation company will offer something to appeal to you as a way to earn your business. Find the one that will work the best with your needs and will charge you the least amount of interest. This can save you thousands in the long run and make the payback of your student loan as simple and pain free as possible. Since your goal is to pay off your student loan, the last thing you want to do is rob Peter to pay Paul with another loan, which leaves you in the same situation you are now!

By: Jon Arnold
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

For more insights and additional information about College Loan Consolidation please visit our web site at www.debtconsolidationstrategies.com

Labels: college loan consolidation, student loan, student loan consolidation