Student Loan Consolidation » School Loans

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

Are Student Loans For People With Bad Credit Real?

admin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 01:01:44 +0000

Student loans for people with bad credit are a fairly misunderstood topic. The reason I say that is because often times people do not realize that there are government based student loans that do not require you to provide credit history in order to obtain them. These loans are called the Stafford loan and the Perkins loan.

The very first thing you always need to do every single year that you are applying for loans is to fill out the FAFSA. This is always the starting point for any type of school loans that you might need. After filling this out and getting your SAR report back this will tell you if you qualify for any federal grants and if you qualify for student loans. In almost all cases you will qualify for federal student loans as long as you have not be faulted on a student loan in the past. If you do not have much income to speak of are your parents do not have much income to speak of there is a good chance that you might qualify for federal grants to help every school and this is money that you do not have to repay.

After you have exhausted the above options and you still need more loans to pay for your schooling the next step in the process is going to be private student loans for bad credit. These types of loans are given out based on your credit rating as well as your income history. If you do not have much income and you have bad credit and the chances of you being approved for this type of loan are slim to none. If you have bad credit and you have great income history then you most likely will be approved for this type of loan you will just have to pay higher interest rates. If you are having difficulty obtaining these student loan with bad credit than your last option is going to be to find a cosigner.

Not everyone is going to have someone that is willing to cosign on a loan with them. If you find yourself in the situation you might want to talk with your schools financial aid department to see if there’s any other options that they might have available for you. If they not have any other options than your best bet might be to take a year off and just work to save money for school as well as do everything he can to improve your credit rating.

By: Michael B Clark

The Average Student Loan

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:33:26 +0000

Planning for higher education can call for the need of a higher education if you do not know what to look for. Knowing the types of loans available for the average student will help you fill the need for tuition and other school related expenses.

First, contact the Financial Aid office at your school to determine if they work with specific banks or companies. This will help speed the process along, and they can also let you know the requirements for the funding they have available. Many schools will send you to a few websites to search for grants and scholarships. This is fine. There are scholarships available for every career ranging from Groundskeeper to Doctor. Searching for these should be done before applying to school if you want to use this as a form of payment, as many have deadlines and paperwork that must be completed prior to award.

The average student will qualify for GSL or the “Student Loan” that most students talk about. There are two types available to the independent student: Subsidized and Unsubsidized. The difference between these two is that the interest is accruing while in school on the Unsubsidized loans. Most schools will try to apply for the Subsidized first, as this saves you money. If this is all the money you need, you are in luck. This means that your Subsidized loan will not accrue interest until your deferment period is up, or 6 months after graduation. If you still need funds, the Unsubsidized loan will be applied for, and it does accrue interest from the date you originate the loan. You can pay on the interest while you are in school to keep your payments down later, but it is not required. Always ask for In School Deferment, as this keeps you from making payments until you have graduated.

To apply for and receive these loans, there is no credit check, but a proof of need is required. This is where the Financial Aid office comes in. Fill out any FAFSA paperwork they may give you, or go to the official website and fill out your information. If you do this online, you will need to apply for and receive an education pin. This can take from as little as 5 minutes, to as long as 5 days to get this pin in your email. So if you plan on applying last minute, go to the Financial Aid office first. They will get your information processed faster than you can get it done at home. When filling out your FAFSA online, you will be required to have last year’s taxes available for your income. Personal questions will be asked such as one that wants to know if you have ever been convicted of a drug charge. This will not help your case getting a loan. Be truthful in all answers, as this is your education. You want as much as you can get. School is expensive and hard. Make sure you have all the money you need to pay for it all.

There are aggregate limits for each type of loan. This means there is a cap on the amount you can get each semester, and overall per year. As an Independent Student, you must live on your own or not be on anyone else’s taxes, and not covered under your parent’s insurance. This means you get more on your loans than those who live at home and have a parent to help with tuition. For each year of school, the aggregate limit goes up. Your grace period is 6 months from the date of your graduation. Now if you leave school early or do not finish, your loan company can request the loan be paid in full immediately. So do your best to stick to your commitment to yourself and get your education. If you back out, if could cost you more than a few dirty looks from family members.

APR or Annual Percentage Rate is calculated into your loan at a national percentage when the loan is taken out. Most companies charge at a rate of 5% to 9% per loan. This means that the percentage is taken of the amount you request and then added to the interest. So if you get a loan for $2500 and the APR is 5%, then 5% is how much your interest will accrue at after your grace period. Don’t be discouraged, as the average payment for a $2500 loan after grace is around $38. Each company that offers student loans will have a loan calculator available. Use this, and it will give you an estimate of what your loan payment will be. Do not take this to the bank, it is used only as an estimate for your reference.

If you need more funding than the GSL will provide, you can always go with a Private loan. These are credit based loans, and if you do not have good credit or any credit, you will need a co-signer. A co-signer is someone who will put their name on the application with you, so that your loan can be considered. If you have bad or no credit and apply alone, there is a significant chance you will be turned down. Companies want to know they will get their money back, so they want someone with good credit. A parent or grandparent will help your credit score improve in the eyes of a lender. Don’t get upset if you cannot find a co-signer. There are many people that outright refuse to co-sign for anything. Would you want to put your name on a contract and promise to pay if the other person on that contract does not pay? That is what you are asking them to do, so choose wisely and realistically. These companies normally offer loans as low as $9000, and as much as $50000 depending on the career choice you have on file. Students who pursue medical careers get much higher aggregate limits than do other professions due to the cost of education. Always apply for the lowest limit you possibly can live with. Remember, you have to pay this back. And you CANNOT file bankruptcy on student loans. So there is no way out of it, you have to pay it back. If you fail to pay this back, on a yearly basis when you file taxes, Uncle Sam gets to keep your tax return to pay for all those loans. So it’s just easier to remember that this is your debt, and to be wise when choosing how to finance your future.

By: Michelle R. Hill

Student Debt Consolidation Loans – Who Qualifies?

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:04:24 +0000

If you have attended college and it wasn’t paid for by an employer in attempt to further your degree, chances are that you have incurred some student loans. For many student loans are sort of put on a back burner, at least temporarily, because they don’t have to be paid back until you have graduated or are no longer attending school. These loans become payable after six months.

Many people look to consolidate their student loan which is very similar to refinancing your mortgage. This is a way of taking several student or parent loans and putting them into one loan. If you take the weighted average on all of the loans that you want to consolidate and round them to the nearest 1/8 of a percent but with a limit of 8.25%, that would be your interest rate.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that your interest rate will be lower but when you are consolidating loans that have varying interest rates, yours should fall somewhere in the middle. There is never a fee to consolidate student loans and if anyone tries to charge you one then they are likely a loan scammer.

Anyone can consolidate their student loans however they can only be consolidated for one borrower. That simply means that if a parent and a child had separate loans they couldn’t consolidate them together. They could however consolidate them separately. Not since 2006 have married couples been able to consolidate together. It was determined that it was too risky in the event of a break up to have them paid.

The grace period on a student loan is six months after they have left school. It is during that time or during the repayment of the loans that the student would qualify to consolidate their loans. The exception is for Parents Plus loans which can be consolidated at any time.

Many times consolidators want to make sure that you have incurred a specific amount of debt before they are willing to consolidate. This amount is usually a minimum of $5000. The only thing that lenders can control is the amount of debt but they can not discriminate on any other condition about the debt.

Any kind of federal loan can be consolidated. Loans can only be consolidated one time but consolidation can be an option again if there are new unconsolidated loans added to them.

By: Chimezirim Chinecherem Odimba

Student Loan Consolidation Help – Government Loans

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:39:52 +0000

As a student you may have taken more than one loan from the government for your education. You can combine all the loans together and make it as one loan. You can also combine loans that you got from the government and any private student loans as well.

A student loan consolidation is a tool used by many loan companies as well as the government today by which you can refinance and consolidate all your school loans. Recent studies reveal that any student who graduates from college in 2009 has about $23,000 in student loans.

Government Student Loan Consolidation

A government student loan consolidation is done by the Federal Student Aid and also known as Federal student loan consolidation. As a student you may have taken more than one loan from the government for your education, you can combine all the loans together and make it as one loan. You can also combine loans that you got from the government and any private student loan as well, but you may lose the advantages that come along with the Federal loan.

Advantages

1. The main advantage is that when you consolidate you can get an extended repayment term and the interest rates of federal loans may be slightly lower than the combined interest rate that you paying right now. Moreover by getting a longer repayment term your monthly payment will naturally become less. You can avail a maximum repayment term between 10 and 30 years depending on the amount of your loan.

2. You can make a very handy one single repayment every month. There are no fees or any credit checks involved in this process.

3. You can combine both your subsidized and unsubsidized loans together. These will be consolidated as two separate loans by which you can easily monitor, but will be combined and you can pay only one repayment every month.

4. You can fill out an online application for this loan consolidation and you will have to just submit a promissory note and a introduction letter. One you submit all necessary details the process gets over in about 60 to 90 days.

5. When you are trying to continue your education further this option will be very helpful as you can get new and different repayment options and a longer repayment term. The minimum qualifications for consolidation is that you must have more than one federal loan and you should be either still in your six month post graduate grace period. You should have made three full monthly payments on time for each of the loans that you want to consolidate.

Government student loan consolidation has a fixed interest rate, not like other varying interest loans, the best thing for you is to wait and watch, pick up the right moment when the rates are low and make a move to consolidate your student loans.

By: Jason Witts

Time For A Student Loan Consolidation Loan?

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:53:28 +0000

If you have taken out several student loans then the time to consolidate could be now. There are several great debt consolidation loan programs available to help you pull all of your loans together into one easy to make monthly payment. Stay tuned for some helpful information!

Upon completing college, your first job probably paid little while your expenses have been sky high. It is not unusual for grads to have student debt in the neighborhood of $50-100,000 in school loans. New auto payments, credit cards, and living expenses can jack up your debt levels tremendously. You need help and help is available to you in form of a student loan consolidation loan.

So what is student loan consolidation loan anyway? It is one type of a loan that permits you to take two or more student loans, pay them off, and make one single monthly payment to one lender. Specifically, if you have three loans owed to three separate lenders, you may always feel that all that you are doing is righting out checks, week in and week out. So, why not combine all three payments into one loan?

One more helpful part about a student loan consolidation loan is that you could possibly reduce your interest rate, stretch out your repayment time, and even borrow a small amount of additional money to pay back other creditors including credit card companies.

So, how do you apply for a student loan consolidation loan? Several ways including: searching online, responding to television advertisements, jotting down a number you hear announced over the radio, etc. Top lending companies are continuously advertising their offerings to consumers and are highly desirous for your business. Simply comparison shop to find the consolidation loan plan that is right for you.

Before applying for a consolidation loan, there are some things for you to keep in mind:

1. Loan Amount. Will the loan you secure enable you to pay off all of your student debt or only a portion of what you owe? Your lender will likely want to see a proof of income before extending a favorable loan rate to you. Expect copies of your credit reports to be pulled by the lender as well.

2. Loan Rate. Will the loan rate be for a fixed amount or will it be an adjustable rate loan? Consider locking in for a long term fixed rate consolidation loan to ensure your monthly payments remain fixed.

3. Loan Term. Are you able to stand paying back your student loan consolidation loan for 15 or 20 years? If you pay the loan back early will there be any prepayment penalties? What if you were to default on your loan?

Your options to obtain a student loan consolidation loan has never been better so take full advantage of one additional way for you to consolidate your debt through a student loan consolidation loan.

By: Jeff Lakie

The Benefits Of Student Loan Consolidation

admin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:28:03 +0000

Are you tired of paying interest on student loans every month? Do you have increasing anxiety about your looming deadline to pay back your loans? There is an easier way that will ease your worries. Get your student loan(s) consolidated. One simple operation turns many headaches into one manageable situation.

There are many financial institutions offering school loans to college students. The problem is their interest rates are generally quite high. Students paying interest monthly on their loans often find it financially impossible to keep up. Then when the loans come due, it can be a huge burden and a disruption to building a career.

Student loan consolidation offers the best deal. Not only are the interest rates low, but also there is a 6 to 9-month grace period, only one monthly payment, and peace of mind.

Here are just a few of the benefits you can enjoy:

1. Make only one monthly payment, rather than paying several separately.

2. Make an overall lower monthly payment.

3. Applications don’t require a credit card check or processing fees.

4. Have a very low, fixed interest rate that cannot exceed more than 8.25% at any time. National interest rates are now at a 40-year low.

5. Terms and payment plans that are very flexible. Providers can design your consolidation loan to meet your financial situation.

6. Ability to prepay your loan at any time without incurring a penalty.

7. Save an additional quarter-percent on your interest rate by paying electronically. Electronic debit option saves money and eliminates the chance that you’ll forget to make on-time payments.

The government program is competitive with the private institutions. Student loan consolidation rates are fixed and can’t be modified after the contracts are approved and signed. Whenever you graduate or cease to be a full time student, you can also enjoy the grace period that allows you time to become employed and repay your loans easily.

Students who are within their grace period, those who can’t repay what they still owe on their student loans, as well as those who are still in school, may take advantage of consolidating their government-guaranteed loans.

By: Ron King