Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Student Loan Consolidator

Student loan consolidator
For students who are embarking on the confusing procedure of taking a loan it should be understood that student loan consolidation entails combining more than one student loan into one loan. Many graduates choose consolidation to relieve their financial burden. There are two types of student loan consolidator available, Federal student loan and Private student loan.

A borrower is eligible for Federal Consolidation loan if they have: Any Stafford, PLUS, Perkins, HEAL, Health Professions Student Loans, Loans for Disadvantaged Students, Nursing student loans, and other federal student loans. At least $5,000 in federal education loans, any federal education loans that are currently in repayment, grace, deferment, or forbearance.

However the process of getting a personal loan also comes with its related problems: Borrowers are eligible for private student loans only if they have: Any private student loans from banks, credit unions, or schools, at least $5,000 in private student loans, good credit or a cosigner with good credit, graduated from or will be graduating with a post-secondary program of study.

The benefits of consolidating include: The convenience of making only one payment per month, lower interest rates, lower monthly payments, and more time allowed to repay the loan. Also one has the option of choosing time limits of repayment up to 30 years. Federal Interest loan consolidation rates are fixed for the life of the loan, which means that the interest rate on the loan will never change. Most private student loan consolidators are variable which means the interest rate on the loan(s) can change at anytime during the loan contract. The monthly loan payments can be reduced by up to 60%. Student loan consolidation can also improve a borrowers overall credit rating, which improves your chances of getting loans in the future too. Most companies will offer borrowers a flexible and convenient repayment plan.

The disadvantage of consolidation is that the interest rate will be higher than the interest accrued from the multiple loans. A consolidated student loan can be extended from the usual ten year repayment to a thirty year repayment option. This means the borrower will be paying out much more money during the duration of the loan agreement.

Due to the exorbitant cost of college education, most or half of all students have needed to apply for student loan consolidator to finance their education.

For example, if a borrower is making a combined monthly payment of $323 dollars, after they choose to consolidate, it is possible that they can reduce these payments into only one monthly payment of only $204.
There are many student loan consolidator companies available. These companies are very competitive and offer many advantages for graduates to choose them for loan consolidation. Listed below are just a short list of available names and phone numbers of private lenders who offer student loan consolidation. Private student loan consolidators offer many advantages for borrowers.

Chela Financial 877-992-4352

Citibank 800-967-2400

Edsouth 800-337-6884

Fleet Bank 888-353-3846

Nelli Mae 800-367-8848

Northstar 800-366-0604

Sun Trust 800-552-3006

USA group 800-448-3533

Wells Fargo 800-658-3567

There are many numerous federal student loan consolidator available on the World Wide Web as well. A short list of reputable online lenders are:

These can help in consolidating your student loan debt with one short quick application. To qualify: The borrower must owe more than $7,500 in federal student loans, have at least one unconsolidated student loan, be out of school or leaving school within the next 6 months, and not be in default of their current loan.

The Next Student consolidates student loans which have not been consolidated previously, are out of school and in repayment of their loans, will be graduating within six months, and loans must not be in default. They service loans that are over the $15,000 loan amount minimum. NextStudent is a premium provider of federal, private student loans and federal student loan consolidations. They also have a state-of-the-art scholarship search engine. NextStudent's scholarship search engine has received numerous awards and recognition including spots in Newsweek and Home PC's "Editor's Choice Award Winners," and features on CNN and ABC's 20/20.

These companies will provide all or some of these benefits:

Lock in low federal interest rates.

Lower payments by as much as 50% or more.

No application fees or charges.

No pre-payment penalties.

Tax-deductible interest for many borrowers.

No credit checks or co-signers required.

And it must be stressed that all of this is just a one page application. For example, any lender may offer a $30,000 Federal Stafford student loan borrower a twenty year loan term paying only $204 per month. A ten year unconsolidated loan would cost the borrower $323 per month. They offer the borrower the chance to reduce their interest rates by an additional 1.25%. They do not charge any fees or perform any credit checks.

Federal student loan consolidator may offer these options when applying for a consolidated loan:

Lock in rates as low as 2.875%.

Lower payments by as much as 50% or more

No application fees or charges

No pre-payment penalties

Tax-deductible interest for many borrowers

No credit checks or co-signers required

Federal student loans available are:

Federal Stafford Loan Consolidation.

PLUS Loan Consolidation, and Direct Loan Consolidation.

If a borrower chooses private student loan consolidation for their Federal loans they can loose their federal loan benefits.

Sallie Mae has more than ten million borrowers nationwide. They offer safe and easy online applications, lowest statutory interest rates, discounts for timely payments, and no fees or credit checks.

A borrower who makes timely payments is eligible for certain benefits which include:

One full percentage point reduction in the interest rate happens during periods of active repayment, but this comes after


the first 36 scheduled payments. The borrower must have outstanding student loans of at least $10,000 at the time of application. Immediate 0.25% reduction in the interest rate after signing up for automatic debit and making electronic payments. To be eligible for this benefit, the initial consolidation balance should be a minimum of $7,500. If the United States government has been paying the interest on your loan(s), the government will continue to do so: If the burden of your student loan has been too much for you and you have defaulted on your loan(s), consolidating may lower your monthly payment enough so as to make repayment affordable for you.

You can consolidate all your student loans, or you can choose to consolidate some of your loans, or you can consolidate just one loan. The choice is often left with you.

If you choose to consolidate your student loan(s) together with your spouse, your monthly payment will almost certainly be lower than what you and your spouse were paying separately. Couples certainly stand to benefit by going at it in this manner. Unlike other consumer loan products, there are no: Credit bureau checks, prepayment penalties, or bank fees.

If you consolidate multiple student loans, you'll end up with one company or organization to contact for questions, comments and complaints about your loans.

Student Loan Consolidation: The Drawbacks

If you choose to consolidate your student loan(s) during your "grace period," your grace period becomes invalid and repayment begins right away.

You can only consolidate your student loan(s) once.

If you consolidate your student loan(s) now and, at some point in the future, and interest rates fall even lower than the rate at which you consolidated, then you won't be able to re-consolidate.

If you decide to go back to school after consolidating your student loans, and you borrow more money under a federally guaranteed student loan program, you will not be able to consolidate this new loan together with your previous loan(s). However if you choose to extend your repayment term, the overall cost of your student loan(s) goes up. You will most likely lose deferment, forgiveness, cancellation and forbearance options.

For example, in the case of Jack and his situation, the government agreed to remove all derogatory items connected with the default status of his student loan, as long as he made steady repeated payments without fail for a year.

A bank would however neither offer nor agree to a similar deal if you consolidate your student loans with your spouse. Then you and your spouse will both be responsible for loan repayment if you end up getting a divorce.

For all these benefits that student loan consolidation provides, the students of today are truly looking at it as a heaven send, as it has made the mind boggling procedure of taking a loan easier on the mind and on the purse strings than it ever was.

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