Student Loans : News, Updates and Blog Posts

If you’ve ever seen those ads on TV late at night asking, “Do you know where your kids are?” you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, well, now you do!

Just as important as knowing what your children are up to at night is the status of your student loans. Specifically, their interest rates and repayment plans. Did you know that because nearly all private student loans have variable APRs, your interest rate could have changed several times in the past 2 years?

One way to make it easier to keep track of your loans is to consolidate them. Of course, there are a lot more benefits than just having one bill and interest rate. Here are some more loan consolidation benefits:

• A credit score boost
• Lowers your monthly payments up to 50% (at the expense of more interest overall)
• The interest rate for private consolidation can actually end up being lower than the average of your consolidated loans (saving money!) based on credit

Sound good to you? If so, then get started on a loan consolidation!

If you’ve heard the word about the reform currently in progress across the country, you probably are aware of the end of the FFEL program and exclusive federal consolidation returning to the Department of Education. If not, read this page on upcoming changes to get acclimated.

One question we get a lot is, “If FFEL is ending, where do we apply for consolidation now?” The answer is Direct Loan Servicing of the US Department of Education. You can apply for consolidation here: Loan Consolidation Center

Make sure to have all your account numbers and payoff balances ready to make the process quick and error-free as possible. Good luck!

Whether you are a recent college graduate starting a new job or moving home with the parents (don’t worry – it’s only temporary), money is an issue regardless of your situation. This summer, if you’re planning a trip or just looking to pay for a new apartment for the fall, you are always looking to save a few bucks.

Enter student loan consolidation. Consolidating your federal student loans can save you a bundle. Let’s say you have $40,000 in federal loans. Your estimated current monthly payment is probably around $457. After consolidation, that payment drops to about $275, for a monthly savings of $182 per month! Would you like an extra $182 per month? I know I would.

Visit StudentLoanConsolidator today to get started! Have questions about consolidating federal and private student loans? Post them in our Financial Aid Forums.

There are a great many benefits to consolidating your student loans, such as the convenience of making one or two monthly payments as opposed to six or seven, as well a lower monthly payment. But to take advantage of the perks of consolidation, there are some things not to do:

1. Consolidate federal and private together. While it’s not possible to involve your private loans in a federal loan consolidation, it is theoretically possible to involve your federal loans in a private consolidation. But that doesn’t mean you should. Such a consolidation would do away with many of the benefits of federal consolidation, including better interest rates and forgiveness options. Always consolidate your federal and private loans separately.

2. Consolidate if you are close to paying off your student loans. If you only have about a year or two worth of student loan payments, you may be better off not consolidating. In that instance, consolidation will simply spread out your federal and private loan payments with the possibility of more interest.

3. Consolidate if you are asked to pay a fee up front. Some private lenders may have consolidation fees, but not for federal. Simply contact the Department of Education’s consolidation department at 1-800-557-7392 or visit Student Loan Consolidator for all of your consolidation needs.

ScholarshipPoints code: CONSONOT

It’s that time of the year again folks; the end of finals for the Class of [insert this year here]. If you’re part of the graduating class, you likely have your Commencement soon or have already taken the walk of glory to get your degree. Congratulations!

This post is devoted to you (yes, you!) to make sure that you start off your life as a degree holder right, with as little financial confusion or anxiety as possible. To get started, I recommend you take a second to read my blog post on exit counseling.

Once you have chosen your repayment plan, it is time to consider your current financial picture. Do you have a full-time job lined up already? If not, are you working part-time? (more…)

It seems like a cosmic joke for many post-grads – you pay all this money for a college degree, you graduate, and now you can’t find a job.  Worse, you’re expected to start paying off those student loans.

One way to make life a little easier is to defer your student loans. Deferment essentially suspends student loan repayment based on certain situations, unemployment being one of them. You are allowed to defer your loans up to three years.

One of the drawbacks of deferment is that the interest rate remains variable and could adjust frequently by the time you are able to start making payments. However, if you consolidate your federal student loans prior to applying for deferment, you can lock in the interest rate and lower your eventual monthly payment.

Click here to consolidate your student loans.

Click here to download the deferment forms.

There was a great question in our loan consolidation forum this week from a new user with lots of loans from medical school. James recently finished his Master’s degree as a physician assistant (congratulations!) and wrote to us looking for some consolidation advice:

I have the following types of federal loans:

1. Subsidized Stafford
2. Unsubsidized Stafford
3. Grad PLUS
4. Previously consolidated federal loans from my Bachelor’s in Nursing (‘97-’01)

My questions are as follows:

1. Can I consolidate the above 4 types of loans together?
2. When should I consolidate? Before or after July 1st? Does it matter? (Grad school was from 8/07 – 12/09)
3. Who can consolidate? Are there any options now other then the federal government? Will there be lower interest options in the future?
4. I’ve read about the PLUS loan loophole. Should I consolidate my PLUS loans separately to save 0.25%?

(more…)

If you are about to enter your grace period, you might be wondering when exactly you should consider consolidating your federal student loans. For many seniors at four-year schools, they will be among the last to consider the variable interest rates for federal loan consolidation.

Currently, consolidation interest rates are projected to decrease slightly on July 1, 2010, so my suggestion would be to wait until early June, when the rates are officially announced, before consolidating.  Remember, this ONLY applies to borrowers who secured variable loans before July 1, 2006.  Federal loans taken out after that date are subject to a fixed model. If you have any questions about student loan consolidation, visit our forums!

If you aren’t already familiar with our Financial Aid Forum, it is an awesome resource for answering questions about virtually every kind of financial aid or loan a student can take out toward their education.

We have three dedicated Student Advocates (myself included) that are available Monday-Friday to help out and an informed user base of several hundred people. Between all of us, your question will be answered quickly and accurately (generally within a day or two).

Also, we have a great loan consolidation FAQ page that might be able to immediately answer any questions or concerns you have about the process.

As always, thanks for reading and make a post in our forum if you need help!

It’s true! If you are unfamiliar with Income Based Repayment (IBR), I would recommend reading my blog and then consulting the Student Loan Network’s handy payment estimator chart under the new repayment plan.

Why is IBR better than the normal plan?

There are a couple reasons why. First, IBR takes your income into account when it computes what your monthly payment is going to be for your new consolidation loan. For instance, if you are single and make less than $15,000, you would actually qualify for $0 payments until your income rises closer to $20,000 per year. This income number actually goes up depending on how many people live in your household. Click the link above for SLN’s payment estimator chart for more details.

Second, under IBR you can actually have your loans forgiven and canceled after 25 years (20 starting after 2014) if you never miss a payment during the life of the loan. Kind of crazy, huh? This is a benefit that does not exist in the private student loan world and in some cases the forgiving period can actually be shortened. If you completed your degree in one of the Department of Education’s “hot fields” you can actually get your loans canceled in 10 years instead of 20 or 25…. and it doesn’t even matter how far along you are in paying for them.