Student Loan Consolidation » College Loan

Best College Student Loans

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:43:48 +0000

With the number of options available, the so many different terms and the eye-catching offers, selecting the appropriate college student loan will be a big and stressful task. While some of these offers are really good and worth the time spent searching for them, the others on the other hand fall into the category of those labeled “too good to be true” Yearly, thousands of college student loans are granted that brings a seeming smile on the face of the student initially not seeing the interest rates attached. A thorough study of the responsibilities to fulfill by the student will go a long way in analyzing if truly this is the right loan and lender for this need.

Below are some of the major things to look out for when applying for private school or educational loans:

* Your credit score plays a very important role. This will go a long way to determine the amount of money you can borrow. Be careful of some “too good to be true offers” here.

* Run away from those that promise money for non-educational items. They are against the Higher Educational Act Policies and thus are termed illegal.

* Be sure to ask from the lending company if your loan will be sold. This is very common with private lenders. This will transfer you to a different lending company which might develop into a shift in terms and higher rates.

* Study the information no the interest rate. Also study how this interest will be calculated over the period of the loan.

By: Iyke Phelim

How to Fix Defaulted Student Loans and Wage Garnishments

admin — Sun, 23 May 2010 05:51:58 +0000

In this tough economy, an increasing number of college graduates (and college drop-outs) are falling behind on their student loans. According to the Department of Education, federal student loan defaults were up to 6.9% in 2009, well above their 2008 of 5.2%. For those carrying private loans, defaults hit 3.37% in 2008 versus 1.47% in 2006, according to Sallie Mae, one of America’s largest providers of private loans.

As you probably already know, defaulting on a student loan is a very serious matter. A federal college loan falls into default status if you are supposed to make monthly payments, but have not done so for 270 days. For those whose student loan payments are less frequent, a default occurs once you haven’t made payments for 330 days. In either case, the government has the right to take your federal tax refund check or garnish up to 15% of your disposable pay in order to collect on a defaulted federal student loan. Defaulted student loans also negatively impact your credit.

Appealing a Wage Garnishment

The good news is that you can appeal a wage garnishment and request a hearing on the matter in order to demonstrate why it is that you can’t afford that the payments and wage garnishment your lender or guaranty agency is seeking. The U.S. Department of Education Debt Collection Services Office (DCS) holds the hearing after you fill out a “Request for Hearing” form regarding your wage garnishment, and send it to the Department of Education.

Your hearing can be done in-person, over the telephone, or in writing; the choice is up to you.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When you submit your Request for Hearing, make sure you also send another EXTREMELY IMPORTANT document. It is the “Financial Disclosure Statement,” a 3-page document in which you must document your income and itemize all your expenses.

The “Financial Disclosure Statement” form will be critical in the hearing/appeal process, and will be closely evaluated, so take the time to carefully list all your bills, and provide copies of those bills as requested.

On page 3 of the Financial Disclosure Statement, you will notice a line that says: “Based on this Statement, I think I can afford to pay $____ per month.” This is where you have an opportunity to essentially offer a counter-proposal to the Department of Education about your student loans. Regardless of what you’ve been asked to pay in the past, here is where you should realistically evaluate your budget and come up with a number that you can undoubtedly pay (without a huge financial strain) month after month.

The Department of Education will make a decision about your case within 60 days after your hearing. But in the meantime, any wage garnishment that has already started will continue to be in force.

Four Options to Cure a Defaulted Student Loan

Now, in order to get your student loan(s) out of default, you have four options:

• Consolidate the loan(s)
• Enter a loan rehabilitation program;
• Pay the loan(s) off completely
• Get the loan(s) totally discharged or cancelled

The last two are probably not realistic options. I know you don’t have the money to pay off the loan(s). That’s why you’re in this predicament; and loan cancellations are rare (though they can be obtained). You’ll likely have to “rehabilitate” your loan(s) or consolidate.

Should You “Rehabilitate” Your Loans or Consolidate?

Before you can consolidate, you have to bring your loan(s) out of default status. You do this by making just three monthly payments – on time, and in any amount that you and your lender agree upon. To find out if you qualify for loan consolidation, contact the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan Info Center at 800-557-7392 or go online to http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov. If you call, the staff there should be able to tell you what your monthly payment will need to be for those three months while your loan is in repayment. The one drawback to consolidation is that your credit remains tarnished. Even though your loan will be paid off and listed as “paid in full” on your credit report, you’ll get a new loan through consolidation and that previous default still shows on your credit report for seven years.

An alternative, to fix your credit, and have all past negative information about your student loans completely deleted from your credit file is to go through loan rehabilitation.

In a nutshell with rehabilitation you make 9 or 12 on-time payments on your student loans in an amount you can afford. You make nine monthly payments on Direct Loans and Federal Family Education Loans, or 12 monthly payments on Perkins Loans. This, in my opinion, is the preferred route as it will help you restore your credit in a big way, so your past default won’t haunt you for years to come.

For more details about various alternatives to cure your student loan delinquency, check out the Department of Education’s guidebook called “Options for Financially-Challenged Borrowers in Default.”

Get Help From an Ombudsman

Additionally, you should know that if you ever have a dispute with your lender or loan servicer about anything related to your federal student loans, there is a government agency that may be of assistance in resolving that dispute. It’s called the Federal Student Aid Office of the Ombudsman. Always try to work things out first with your lender by using the online “Self Resolution Checklist” from the Ombudsman’s office. But let’s say you think your loan was mistakenly placed in default by your lender – maybe you were in school at least half-time, you had a loan deferment or forbearance, or you actually made payments on your loan – and you can’t get a satisfactory resolution of the issue, then it’s time to reach out to the Ombudsman’s office.

No matter what economic challenges you’re facing, you don’t have to live with wage garnishments and blemishes on your credit report because of defaulted student loans. Reach out for help today, and start the process of turning that college debt problem around.

By: Lynnette Khalfani-Cox

Private Versus Federal College Student Loans – Which is Better?

admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:43:45 +0000

It is advised by all financial services providers that you apply for a federal college student loan before jumping straight into applying for a private loan. This does not necessarily mean that a federal student college loan is any better than a private loan, but just that is can offer you a more competitive deal in terms of interest rates. Private lenders can determine their own interest rates to a certain degree, and they are often found to be substantially higher than that of federal student college loans. Private loan interest rates are largely dependant on the borrowers credit score.

Some people do not get approved for federal student college loans due to not having the financial need after being assessed. In these cases, private student college loans are the only viable option that could be applicable.

Another reason why federal student college loans are more appealing is that they are federally guaranteed, and can possibly even be partially subsidized to those who are approved. There may be offers of further reduced interest rates that also make them more attractive, but then private student college loans can also offer reductions in rates, depending on which financial services providers you apply through. With federal student college loans you will need to fill out a Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, but with private student college loans you could get approved within 24 hours. With private college loans, you will more than likely have to go through with a credit check to validate that you are a reliable candidate.

An advantage of private student college loans is that they send the funds directly to you so that you can distribute them as you see fit. Federal loans are usually paid to the school which could avoid any accidental spending on other irrelevant items.

Federal student college loans definitely seem to be the preferred loan of choice due to the advantages mentioned above, but if you are not approved for application then you are by no means setting yourself up for a lifetime of debt by opting to apply for private. If you have a decent credit score and you manage to find a suitable deal with a reputable private college loan provider, then you could walk away with a package that is equally as enticing as a federal student college loan.

Fill in your FAFSA form and see where that takes you before you start exploring private options. There is a wealth of information regarding both federal and private student college loans, so see which one fits your circumstances the best.

By: Susan Gaines

College Loan – How to Combine Your Private Student Loans

admin — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:46:25 +0000

Paying bills today seems tougher than ever before. It feels like our money is shrinking. This is one of the results of a bad economy. So many of us are losing our jobs due to companies going out of business, companies down sizing, companies giving salary cuts or for some of us just losing our job. When we pay our bills each month one bill that is facing a great number of us is our student loans. They seemed like a great means of getting an education back when we were in school but now they seem like a noose around our necks. In this article I will give you some tips on how you can possibly combine your private student loans.

First, combine all the information you can about your private student loans. They were probably issued through different companies, while you were attending college.

Second, now that you have gathered the information you may want to look how if you combine these loans you can perhaps achieve a lower payment a lower interest rate.

Third, make sure your loans can be combined and that you won’t be charged pay off fees.

Fourth, you want to compare options between lenders. Check carefully, some lenders only let you consolidate once so if interest rates were to drop very ow at another date you would not be able to avail yourself of these low rates.

Fifth, you want to make sure that your lenders do not charge you prepayment fees. Many companies will charge you a fee if you pay your loan off early.

Lastly, before you make any decision to combine your student loans it is a good idea to discuss it with a professional such as your family accountant or a professional loan officer.

By: Bryan Burbank

College Loans Can Help Students With Their Dream

admin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:55:55 +0000

Finance is understood to be cash, hazards, stocks and shares, bonds, liabilities, and one or two different items surrounding cash that are too many to add, with college student loans simply one other part of this in-depth subject. Who would have thought that cash would become the very stuff of our world? It’s nearly like it provides us purpose to be. A type of blood flowing thru our veins, keeping it’s heart in Wall Street.

In today’s society, info of these things is available to everyone, mixed with facts on any other thing, by simply carrying out an easy web search. If you’re trying to find info related to varsity loans, the web is actually the spot for you. There’s been a lessening in the funds available for public or non-public grants in the US over the last a decade. This has made it hard for a lot of scholars to get thru university. But with the college loan, their dreams may still come to pass.

It is left for them to take it or not. At one previous point, the majority of the children that went to school or varsity were on all types of grants. That was undeniably true of the late 1980s in the States. These days, there are far more scholars on study loans and different types of borrowed cash than there are those on grants. That should tell you that you aren’t alone. The numbers talk for themselves. You can go to school and be a loser who dropped out because they couldn’t meet their fiscal responsibilities. Otherwise, you may be the kid who took the high-school college loan and finished school.

It’s your call; but do not blame anyone in the future for the decisions you make today. Before the turn of the century, the quantity of scholars who were on all types of grants in US faculties was about forty percent of all that were in university. That p.c. continues to drop over time, with a marked increase of scholars who have to borrow to remain in university. And if you’ve got to borrow, why not a university student loan? Lots of scholars owe all of the way thru varsity and continue to owe afterward.

The banks of a university student loan rarely panic because they know you’ll be back when bad credit begins to adhere to you like glue in the future. And then they get their cash back from you. For this reason, they’re ready to loan to you as much as you want.

By: Willie DeJarnette