A student consolidation loan is a loan that consolidates all your student loans into one student loan. You might ask why anyone would consolidate their loans. Well statistically speaking the average American will carry up to 13 credit cards with a debt of over $5,000. If you do the math, having many different loans with different companies, will mean that your interest rates will also be different.

When you consolidate your student loan you’re combining all your debts with one lender with a much lower interest rate. The reason for a lower interest rate is that you get to pay off your debt for a longer period, sometimes up to 20 years.

Here’s where it can get very tricky, so it pays off to choose the right student consolidation loan company before you consolidate your debts. One of the most common mistakes students can make is consolidating their loans with the wrong lender. If you don’t read the fine print carefully you’ll end up paying more in interest because all you’re really doing is stretching out your payments over a longer period. If you calculate all the interest you’re paying it will end up higher than your current loan.

So it’s very important that you don’t consolidate your student loan with just any lender. You’ll need to get smart when selecting a lender because it’s your money and you don’t want to end up with a 20 year loan that you’re unhappy with. Here’s a few things you can look out for the next time you’re looking to consolidate your student loans.

1. Don’t sign up to anyone who asking for large upfront fees. If there’s any fees make sure you know what they are for. 2. Avoid consolidation lenders who try to rush you into signing up with them. You should take your time, look around and compare rates before you sign anything. 3. Get a check list of all the agreements before you sign. Don’t take anyone’s word or promises. Make sure that everything is on paper. 4. When you’ve found the right consolidation company make sure you check them out on the “Better Business Bureau” and see if they’ve had any complaints. Nothing worse then a company who never delivers. 5. You’ll also need to check if the company accredited by the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counselling Agencies. This will ensure that they are allowed to consolidate your loan. 6. Last but not least ask if you can get a better rate or any special bonuses or offers available. It never hurts to ask sometimes companies are planing on running specials on the following week. So you don’t want to miss out on any savings you can get your hands on.

I hope these few tips will help you choose the right student consolidation loan company. All the best with your studies and hope you do well in class.




By: Marc Lindsay

When someone reaches graduation usually wants to get rid of student debt as fast as possible in order to move on to another stage of his financial life. However, this is not always an easy task. Student debt accumulates and prevents graduated students from repaying the whole debt in a speedy manner. Sometimes students spend years paying just the interests on their loans while the principal remains intact.

Moreover, student loans usually have a mere 6 month grace period after graduation that lenders seem to think is enough time for someone to get a permanent job and a steady income. This is not always true; in fact, it takes far more than that to find a job. And those lucky enough to get hired within this period, usually get part-time jobs or temporary jobs which do not provide a good enough income to meet the loans’ installments.

Student Consolidation Loans

This situation forces students to resort to student consolidation loans so they can reduce the amount of their monthly payments and if possible reduce the amount of money paid on interests too. Furthermore the sole reduction of the number of outstanding loans cuts hundreds of dollars on administrative fees that are usually charged separately (though sometimes included in the interest rate).

Student Consolidation loans help by reducing the monthly payments; however, they will not speed up the debt reduction process unless you undertake other measures in order to boost their effects. There are many additional actions you can take in order to start eliminating debt more quickly so you can become debt free in a few years.

Cut On Unnecessary Expenses And Postpone Costly Actions

Till you find a permanent job, you can aid your debt reduction process by cutting on redundant expenses such as dinning out, attending to clubs every weekend, etc. Also, it will not kill you to keep sharing an apartment till you can afford rent on your own while managing to pay for your loan at the same time.

Basically, unless after paying for your loan monthly installment you have enough money to cover for any unexpected event, do not get into more unnecessary expenses and use the money to pay off the loan’s principal sooner or build some savings for emergencies.

Forbearances

Another option if you find yourself in a tight situation is to request your consolidation loan lender forbearance. Forbearance is a period of time during which the loan payments will be suspended. Make sure you use this time to solve whatever problem is preventing you from making your monthly payments and also to build some savings to cover for unexpected events in case this comes to happen again.

Most lenders offer forbearances only once a year and some of them only offer one in the whole life of the loan, so make sure you really need it before requesting this grace period. Otherwise if another unexpected event takes place you will not be able to use this tool and will have to resort to other finance sources worsening your debt problems.




By: Devora Witts

How many of you are biting your nails trying to figure out what you should do to get your college paid for? You know you need a loan… but what kind? What are the differences? Would it be a good idea to refinance or consolidate any loans you already have? Is this the right time? How much do you really need? What do college loans cover? If you’re wondering about these things, please read on.

Before you run out and get a college loan, you first need to know how much of a loan you are going to need. Of course, the obvious part of the loan is your tuition and the cost of your courses. But there are many other things that you may need to have covered through your college loan. This can be your room and board, school supplies, lab supplies, books, etc. But this just pertains to your actual schooling. There are other things you need to take into consideration. This can be car insurance, gas, transportation, health insurance, food, etc. You need to add all of these factors up for each year. Then, multiply it by how many years you are to be in college. This will give you a rough estimate of how much money you will need.

Some college loans can be used for anything. The lender couldn’t care less as long as you pay it back. If you plan on getting a part time job, you can count on part of your paycheck being used towards things that your college loan does not cover. However remember you’ll need to keep part of your paycheck to pay your monthly college loan payment!

Now we shall go over the several types of college loans out there. A little later, I will explain about refinancing a college loan.

First, we will go over federal student loans. These college loans can either be subsidized or unsubsidized.

Subsidized loans are when the government pays the interest of the loan for the students. You must show that you are in great financial need in order to get this type of loan.

Unsubsidized loans are when the student must pay the interest, but the interest is not deferred until after graduation. Anyone can get an unsubsidized loan. Both of these types of federal student loans are the most commonly used.

The next are private student loans. Private student loans are given to someone with a good credit score. They can be used for anything, not just the cost of tuition. They are also unsecured. This means they require no collateral, but they have extremely high interest rates.

Now, we go to for parent loans. As you guessed, this is a loan that parents can take for the full amount of the college tuition. You just have to hope mommy and daddy are willing to do this for you! The payoff rate and interest rate is much lower with this type of loan, often because parents have good credit and the funds to pay the loan off.

Now we come to consolidation loans. This type of loan is used to consolidate all of a student’s loans together so they can be paid off in one easy payment plan to one lender, rather than having several payments to several lenders. Many students end up getting this type of college loan after they made the mistake of getting too many college loans at once.

Those of you, who do already have a loan, may be interested in refinancing. Refinancing college loans often seems like a good idea, and it is…if you use it to your advantage. I’ll explain that in a minute. First, you need to understand a few things. Most college loans are of a variable percentage rate until the rate is locked. You lock a rate by means of a loan consolidation or by refinancing. When rates are very low, it generally is a good idea to attempt to get your loans or loan consolidated or refinanced.

Before you can even think of refinancing, you must know that is only offered to you good people that have always made their monthly loan payment on time. If this does not sound like you, then I wish you good luck trying to refinance!

Refinancing rates are usually one or two percent lower than your original college loan rate. Refinancing rates can save you up to 60 percent. But this is where the possible drawback is - and most people simply don’t realize.

The “drawback” is a hidden one - that most people never see. In order to get your college loan payment lower through refinancing, you are given a much longer time period to pay the loan off. Instead of 5 years to pay it off, it can turn into 20 years to pay it off! This may sound good to you in the beginning. At the time, it will leave you with extra money that you may be in need of for other bills. But in the long run, it just costs you more money because you will be paying interest much longer to the lender. In fact, it can cost you thousands more!

The smart way to do it is after you refinance and obtain the lower rate; pay more towards the monthly bill. This way you will pay off your loan much quicker than normal and at a cheaper rate. But only put more towards paying it off when you can afford it. Remember you refinanced your college loan because you couldn’t afford the payment to begin with. So now you’ve refinanced just pay off your loan as best you can at your own pace, bearing the above in mind.

I hope I didn’t scare you too much. The important thing you have to remember is that most lenders gain money from you through the interest you pay them. If you pay your college loan off faster, you will make the lender less rich! Take a breather and use your head before you jump into anything. In other words “look before you leap”.

© Luke Sharp 2005




By: Luke Sharp