Consolidate Student Loans - Is it Worth It?

More and more college grads want to consolidate student loans to ease the pressure of monthly payments. When you have multiple student loans, you need to be constantly on your guard to be sure that you pay back your monthly installments. It could also happen that occasionally you might miss out on some payments due to financial difficulties. When you consolidate student loans, you greatly ease your financial worries, making sure that you pay promptly on time. One of the major problems that grads with multiple loans face is that of keeping track of multiple payments and their respective due dates.

The crucial thing to ask here is do you have a good idea of consolidating student loans? When you consolidate student loans, there could be many benefits as well as certain drawbacks. It is important that you know everything about consolidating student loans before you decide to go for it.

The important question is: How does student loan consolidation work? The process is quite simple; as soon as you graduate from college, you begin repaying your student loans. This means keeping track of all your multiple loans and paying them in installments one by one. When you consolidate student loans, you combine all your loans into a single installment. This makes it convenient for you to keep track of all your payments under one single loan program. This is an ideal situation to be in when you have just graduated and have started working. When you consolidate student loans, you also get a low interest rate (in most cases) and extended time to repay your loan. This could help you save a lot of money and keep payments lower throughout the loan term, and that is always a good thing when you are starting out in your chosen career.

One of the best things about consolidating student debt is the extended repayment time that you get. The period of repayment can be extended up to 30 years too depending on the nature of your loan.

When you plan to consolidate your college debt, you can be sure that there will be benefits as well as drawbacks. If you take advantage of the grace period of six months and consolidate within this period, you gain from a low interest rate. The downside to this is you will have to give up on the remaining part of the grace period and begin paying before the end of the next sixty days. However, there is a good way of consolidating by the end of the grace period in a way that brings you all the benefits. Discussing with your lender about all the possible options will help you settle on a good deal.

So is it worth it to consolidate? The answer really depends on your situation, but what is is for sure is that all grads (or college drop outs with student loan debt) should at least consider refinancing their college debt into a single loan. It may save you money and lower your payments, so why not check into it?

The Advantage and Disadvantage of School Loan Consolidation

Do you have overlapping loan bills that flood your mailbox monthly? Aren't you getting tired of paying high interest rates in your every loan while stretching your allowance? As a student, you don't need to suffer beyond your academics and other activities in school. In order to end your financial agony, you should consider about getting school loans consolidation.

A school loan consolidation is way to properly manage your loans without getting burdened. There are many people especially college students who are experiencing painful monthly payments of their loans. A loan consolidation loan could be tremendously helpful if you ran up your credit cards while you were in school, or if you have a several high interest loans such as student loans, car loan and others. This will allow you to combine high interest loans into one payment.

There are advantages and disadvantages in school loans consolidation. Some of the advantage of loan consolidation is that you would have an easier time in making your payments. All of your credit bills would be listed as one therefore giving you just one time to pay for them. You can also avoid paying for late fees and extra charges. There are private lending companies that charges the borrower extra fees aside from the regular fees that you owe them. If you have consolidated your loan, you would only pay one extra fee under one bill instead of multiple fees.

Finally, the bad credit record that will result when you can't afford to pay the loan bills anymore. If you have plenty of loan bills to pay, you would most likely forget to pay some of them. Because of that, you would leave bad impression on lending companies that would lead on having a bad credit score. School loan consolidation can prevent that from happening.

Of course, there are disadvantages with using some consolidation programs. According to some people, debt consolidation is not the answer. To begin with, it can be very difficult finding fair interest rates. Common sense tells us that if the rate on your new loan isn't any better than the rate charged on your current loans, consolidating your loan wouldn't make sense. It would still be better for you to pay up all the loans the old way.

Another disadvantage on school loan consolidation is that you still owe the lending companies the same amount of money. The only difference is the length of the payment term. If the payment term is longer, this could leave you paying more interest. In addition, availing consolidation usually costs the borrower. You would only end up paying more than you should.

Availing the school loan consolidation program would all amount to your wise decision. Before deciding, you should arm yourself information about the advantages and disadvantages of this program. You can only avail the loan consolidation once so you should be very careful in order to prevent facing adversities in the future. Consulting a professional financial adviser would help you balance the situation that you are in.

The Advantages of Student Loan Consolidation

Student loan consolidation is a useful tool which makes easy repayment possible. The process here is to combine any existing parent and student loans into one new loan, whereby a new lender will undertake to pay off all previous balances. This is far better than paying different rates of interest on several loans.
This method will significantly reduce the load of monthly repayment. Sometimes you'll be lucky to pay an amount equaling only half of your monthly installment. Student- loan -consolidation helps take the headache off college students who otherwise have to go through a lot of hardship to accumulate necessary funds for today's expensive educational costs and it also helps to save considerable time to just sign one cheque in a month than several.
Usually there will be a grace period of six months after studies for repayment of loans. This is the best time to consolidate your loan. Though rates differ with each lender, most of it depends upon the borrower's credit history. Do not be misled by lenders who charge a fee for consolidation for this could most certainly be a scam. Usually consolidation is done free of any charge.
In the United States it is possible to extend period of repayment up to 30 years. Thus you can earn substantially and pay off your loan in this extended period.
Research various ways to get lower rates of interest on consolidation with a thorough search of the internet. By asking for a forbearance of one year on SLC you can even lock in at a low rate under Student Consolidation programs.
Even married couples can consolidate their individual student -loans no matter what the amount comes up to. Even if their marital status differs in future, there will be no change on the debt situation under SLC

Student Loan Consolidation - Save Time & Money

Is Student Loan Consolidation a Good Idea?
Consolidating your student loans can be a tricky process. What goes into it? Is it a better deal than what I am paying now? Can I consolidate quickly? Here's the scoop.
Consolidation Loans combine two or more student or parent education loans into one bigger one from a single lender, which is then used to pay off the balances on the others. Doing this allows you to pay one lender for all your borrowed money, simplifying your bill paying procedures each month. It is very similar to refinancing a mortgage. Consolidation is available for most federal loans, including FFELP (Stafford, PLUS and SLS), FISL, Perkins, Health Professional Student Loans, NSL, HEAL, as long as many other types. Some lenders offer private consolidation for private education money you might have borrowed from someone other than the Federal Government as well.
Is this a good idea though? Other than making all your payments to one place what are the benefits? Generally, you aren't going to pay any more or any less in interest by consolidating, as the new loan takes a weighted average of your previous commitments to determine your new interest rate on your education consolidation rate. According to FinAid.org: "The interest rate on a consolidation loan is the weighted average of the interest rates on the ones being consolidated, rounded up to the nearest 1/8 of a percent and capped at 8.25%."
If you don't save on the interest than, what's the point? The benefit, in addition to consolidating with one lender is that you can consolidate borrowed money with any lender, there is no cost to consolidate and you get access to better repayment plans than the standard education loans give.
For example, you can easily lower your monthly payments by consolidating educational debt by extending the repayment period a number of years, often making it an affordable monthly expense instead of a burden. Consolidation provide access to several alternate repayment plans besides standard ten-year repayment, as mentioned. These include extended repayment, graduated repayment, income contingent repayment and income sensitive repayment. If you do not specify the repayment terms, you will receive standard ten-year repayment.
Those last two options are of particular interest for low income students with loans, single mothers (or fathers) with education loans and anyone who may be unemployed at the moment or working only part-time. Those payment plans will be more sensitive to your economic circumstances than the regular repayment plans.
In the end, education consolidation is often a quick and easy solution to lowering your monthly loan payments, reducing your debt and keeping your education expenses manageable.

Direct Student Loan Consolidation Plans Available to You

A good education comes at a high cost these days. A college student loan is sometimes the only way someone may be able to afford a decent college education. There are different types of student loans. Many times, due to high interest and other unexpected situations that may be out of your control, it is hard to handle the monthly payments. If you are having problems making your student loan payments on time, you should look into a direct student loan consolidation program.
This type of loan will take all of your student loans and consolidate them into one low interest loan. The consolidation will allow for lower payments at a fixed interest rate that is determined by the average of your loans being rounded to the closest.125 per cent.
If you are having a hard time paying your student loans, this loan will give you some relief. This will become a new loan and your other loans will be paid off and reported as such on your credit report. Consolidation loans come in many configurations, each one with a different repayment plan. Consider your current situation, what you can afford, and learn about the different plans available before making a decision. This is a fresh start and you want to take advantage of the best possible alternative that fits your finances.
A standard repayment plan will give you ten years to repay, with a fixed monthly payment, tailored to the amount that you owe.
A graduated repayment plan option will have a period of 12 and 30 years to pay off the loan. As its name suggests, on this loan your monthly payment will increase every two years. This is something to take into consideration if you don't think that your financial situation will change much during that time, as you will be faced with bigger payments eventually.
An extended repayment plan spreads the loan over 30 years. Your monthly payments will be smaller however, at the end of the 30 years, you will end up paying more in interest. This is something to keep in mind. An income contingent repayment plan allows you to repay the debt in 25 years and it takes into consideration the amount owed, your annual gross income, and the size of your family. If you have a steady job, this may work for you.
When you use a direct student loan consolidation, you are starting a new loan for a new period of time and at a new interest rate. If you are almost done paying your student loan off, this may not be an appropriate alternative for you. This alternative should be considered if you are having trouble making your student loan payments. Consider carefully your current situation, both the pros and cons, before deciding on this type of loan.

Finding the Best Student Loan Consolidation Company

While student loans may be considered good debt, meaning that it can be viewed as an investment rather than a debt, they still provide quite a large monthly payment(s) each month. For many students and/or grads, the student loan debt may turn out to be very hard to manage; that's a situation where consolidating may benefit.
Consolidating all of your student loan debt
college debt into one loan has its good points and bad points. The benefits include smaller monthly payments and that it's much simpler to manage one loan than several. On the other hand, there are a number of potential negative aspects involved if you should decide to consolidate, including longer repayment terms and usually higher interest rates. It's vitally important to weigh the good points and bad points in each case in order to determine whether or not consolidation is a good option for you.
Once you do your homework and finally decide on consolidation as the answer, how do you go about obtaining the best student loan consolidation? First off, you can opt to consolidate with any bank who offers consolidation loans. This is a big plus because it enables you the ability to research any lender for the best interest rates. It's a good idea to begin your search by browsing the Internet for advice from other former college students who have recently consolidated. See which financial institutions they used and whether they're impressed with that particular lenders service and loan terms.
There are a lot of online consolidation lenders to choose from, so beginning your search for one can get a bit overwhelming. Concentrate your time and effort on reputable financial institutions, such as government lending programs (Direct Consolidation Loans) or nonprofit organizations that offer lending. Compare the interest rates amongst the various financial institutions to find the lowest possible interest rate. Additionally, be on the lookout for incentives and interest rate reductions and be sure to take those into consideration when choosing a lending institution. Don't make the mistake of looking solely at the amount of the monthly payment; look at interest rates, bonuses/incentives, monthly payment amount, and the number of years for repayment. Search for a consolidation loan which has the shortest number of months for repayment possible which you can afford. For instance, if you can afford a 20 year loan, pick that loan over a 30 year term that has a lower monthly payment. In this instance, you'd save a huge amount on interest charges by the time the loan is paid off.
After you have narrowed down your choices for a reputable student loan consolidation company, it's now time to choose one lender to finance the consolidation. Whether it be an online lending institution or a local bank you have chosen, you should be 100% sure that you understand all of the loan contract terms before signing it. This would include that you must be sure you understand the payment due date, whether or not you forfeit any applicable bonuses/incentives for being late on a payment, late payment fees, number of months for repayment, early payoff penalties (if applicable) and other related information. Once you have covered all of this information and agree with all of the terms of the contract, you are now all set to sign the consolidation loan and not long after that begin paying back the consolidation loan.

Bankruptcy and Student Loans

During college, many students rack up enormous amounts of debt in the form of student loans. And although many private student loans that are credit based may be eligible for discharge during a bankruptcy proceeding, those loans that were obtained from the United States Department of Education do not qualify for discharge under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. If the majority of your past due and delinquent debt consists of student loans, bankruptcy is usually not the best option.
Better Options For Student Loan Borrowers
Bankruptcy can represent a new beginning for many borrowers, but the effects of filing bankruptcy can be felt on your credit file for as long as the next decade. Although many borrowers, especially students with massive amounts of student debts, often feel that there is no other option or that there are other alternatives, managing your student debt can be accomplished in other ways.
Forbearance and Deferment Options
Once you have graduated and received the last degree that you will be working on, most student loans are written so that you must begin repayment after six months. However, if you are unable to find work, there are ways to get around paying on your loans until you become gainfully employed. One such way is through forbearance. During forbearance, your loans will continue to incur interest, but you will not be required to pay.
Forbearance can give you a reprieve from paying on your student loans until you are better off to do so financially; however, forbearance will only be granted for a short period of time and a limited number of times over the life of your accumulated loans.
A better solution to forbearance of your student loans may be deferment, which is an entitlement under the U.S. Department of Education. Deferment is much like forbearance, although in certain instances, interest may not continue to accrue, although that fact differs from lender to lender.
Student Loan Consolidation
Another option is student loan consolidation. As a borrower, you no doubt have multiple loans with multiple lenders or servicers, which means that you will make multiple payments. During student consolidation, student borrowers can consolidate the entire bulk of their loans into one big loan with one monthly payment that better meets their financial ability to repay their student debt. You can consolidate both private and government loans.
Defaulting on Your Student Loans
Managing your loan payments may be difficult, but by actively working with your lender or consolidating your loans, you can get through the repayment period and get on with your life and your career. The outcome for those who do not take repayment of their loans seriously is grim. The U.S. government can seize any income tax refunds that you are entitled to, and can actually garnish your wages at your future place of employment.
Additionally, your credit rating will bear the scars of defaulting on your federal student loans for many years, and you will always owe the government (and the government always collects). The only way to have your loans completely discharged is if you become legally disabled.