Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Student Loan Consolidation: Do it!


Hey! Learn from my mistakes! Consolidate your student loan debt and do it now while interest rates are still low. If I had consolidated my student loans years ago, I would have been able to secure a fantastic interest rate, which would have made my monthly payments far more manageable and I would have been much more inclined to keep up with my student loan payments.

The market for money for the average consumer is the best it's been for many years. Take advantage and get a great consolidation interest rate for all your student loans. The economy will be strong again soon, and that means higher interest rates. If you don't consolidate your student loan debt now you'll probably regret it. I am not saying to go for the first student loan consolidation offer that comes your way. You should shop around for the best consolidation deal, just as you would shop around for the best mortgage or credit card deal. Nowadays, there are a plethora of organizations out there that specialize in buying student loan debt (it's obviously a very profitable thing to do these days.) All that competition is great for you, the consumer, so let the consolidation companies fight for your business. Don't settle for anything but the very best deal.

Thanks for reading and good luck!

Student Loan Debt: My Personal Story


I have a very personal story to share with all you people out there with student loan debt. I am sharing this story in the hope that as many people as possible can learn from my mistakes. This is a true story that happened to me back in 1999.

I had been out of school for quite a while. I was working at a big law firm in New York City making a decent living, paying my bills and some of my debt. I had (foolishly) incurred a lot of credit card debt in my youth and I was really paying for it. I also had about $11,000 in student loan debt from a Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan I had taken out when I was in school. I wasn't paying my student loan debt. In fact, I completely ignored my student loan debt, throwing all the threatening letters I received into the trash! My thinking was, "what could they do to me? If I ignore the debt the government will step in a pay it off. Besides, those monthly payments are way too high!" There was a moderate amount of guilt associated with my actions, but it's hard to feel sorry for the richest government that has ever existed on the earth.

So I was moving along with my life, happy to be slowly improving my credit rating by paying of my old credit card debt. I got a raise at work and started investing a large chunk of my paycheck into my employer's 401K plan. Yeah, things were OK and getting better. It was at this point in my life that I opened a business checking account because I had big plans of quitting my job and starting my own business. I started making small deposits to this account every week or so and soon I had over $1000 in that business account. And that's when it happened.

One day, I was performing a routine balance check on my business bank account and found that my bank account was completely empty! Shock? Horror? No, it was more than that. I nearly fainted! I immediately got on the phone with the bank to get an explanation. They informed me that my money was legally withdrawn from my account by a law firm representing the government in student loan default matters. I got the phone number for that law firm and called. They told me that they had obtained a "judgment" against me in court 3 or 4 years prior, and that they had every legal right to seize any and all money in my bank accounts. Wow. That's some serious power, eh?

So, all those threatening letters I was throwing away: I really shouldn't have done that! If I had responded to those letters, I would have been able to avoid the nightmare that I have just described. If I had contributed a little less to my 401K and made payments on my student loan, I would have avoided having my bank account emptied. And to add insult to injury, because my business bank account was empty, the bank assessed some very large and nasty fees due to lack of funds.

No-Cost Student Loan Consolidation

A no-cost student loan consolidation - doesn't that just sound too good to be true? Think about it. You have just accrued thousands of dollars in debt through student loans after 4 years of college, or possibly even more. Then, a company offers to take all of your loans off of your hands, put them into one central loan, and do it all for free! Well, while it might not be too good to be true, it all depends around your particular situation, which could make this a "free" process, or could still work out to the benefit of the consolidation company that you are working with throughout the process.

How A Student Loan Consolidation Works

Here is how the student loan consolidation works. You have used up thousands of dollars in student loans to pay your way through college, obtain housing throughout college, and pay for other odds-and-ends while attending college. A student loan consolidation then takes all these different loans, pays for each of them, at which time you then pay the student loan consolidation company for the total amount of loans taken out during college.

Example of Student Loan Consolidation

If you were to have outstanding loans of $5000 to one company, $6000 to another, and $9000 to a third, the student loan consolidation allows you to owe $20000 to one company, rather than to three. This can save you money in the long run, as these companies also may be able to offer you a competitive interest rate, which means you will be paying less overall for your student loans in a shorter amount of time and to only one company.

Potential Student Loan Consolidation Problems

Problems can occur with student loan consolidations if you catch a deal that does not work out favorably to your situation. For instance, if you choose a no-cost student loan consolidation that does not offer you a low interest rate, you could actually end up paying them more than you originally would have! It is important that you choose a company not for their "no-cost" approach, but for their willingness to get your student loans paid off with a consolidation that promotes a quick pay-off with minimal interest rates.

This article is distributed by NextStudent. At NextStudent, we believe that getting an education is the best investment you can make, and we're dedicated to helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding as easy as possible. We invite you to learn more about how to get No-Cost Student Loan Consolidation at www.NextStudent.com.

Hello, and welcome to EdFed.


E
dFed is dedicated to assisting students and graduates with financing their college expenses and managing their education loans. We specialize in education lending, and we are dedicated to ensuring your loans are handled professionally while offering you money-saving benefits.

If you
graduated in 2009, or if you will be graduating within the next few months, we would like to congratulate you for obtaining your hard-earned degree. Also, we would like to provide you with some very important information regarding federal student loan consolidation. You must consolidate during your grace period to avoid an interest rate increase of 0.60%. If you wait until your grace period ends, your interest rate will automatically be 0.60% higher. When you consolidate during your grace period, you will have no payments due until your grace period has ended. You have nothing to lose. There really is no reason to pay this higher rate on your federal student loans!

With student loan consolidation, you can lock in a low, fixed interest rate for the life of your loan--and there are no fees, credit checks, income verifications, or prepayment penalties. This will help you reduce your monthly payments by nearly 50% and save you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan.

EdFed can also help you save money with our extended repayment terms of up to 30 years, and flexible repayment options that you can choose from to best suit your

Finding the Best Student Loan Consolidation Plan

Are you a recent college graduate? Do you struggle each month to make payments on two or more different student loans? Are you looking for a source of the best student loan consolidation advice? If you have answered “yes” to each of the three questions posed above, then you should set aside some time for reading and studying the information in the following article. Learn about what you should expect from a company that has offered to consolidate your student loans. Tell any company that seeks to have you as a client that that company must meet your expectations.

Have you been bemoaning all of the payments that you have to make each month, because you took out two or more student loans? Do you worry about the possibility that you might soon lack sufficient funds for fulfillment of your financial obligations? Do you think that you might be forced to default on your student loans? If so, then you need to initiate a search for the best student loan consolidation plan.

The decision to consolidate a group of student loans does not represent an attempt to ignore the financial obligations that plague so many new graduates. The decision to consolidate a group of student loans simply provides a new alumnus or alumna with the opportunity to rewrite the terms on those loans. At the same time, the holder of those multiple loans can put all of his or her student loans in a single Consolidation loan.

If the prospect of re-writing the terms of your loans appeals to you, and if you would like to wrap all of your loan obligations in a single package, then you need to sit down at a computer. You need to find a computer with access to the Internet. In that way you can examine the offerings of many different companies. In that way you can enjoy a greater likelihood for finding the best student loan consolidation plan.

What should you expect from such a plan? First, you should expect to be provided with a loan that has a fixed interest rate. Moreover, that fixed rate should be lower than the interest rate that you currently pay on your existing student loans.

So, stop bemoaning all the payments you are making (or are failing to make) to a group of lenders. Instead, get one of our School Consolidation loans, and make one single payment each month. That payment will have a low and fixed interest rate. Moreover, you will be provided with plenty of time in which to pay off your Consolidation loan.

Maybe you are familiar with consolidation loans. Maybe you already consolidated a few of your student loans. If you have since taken out yet another student loan, you can now put that new loan together with your first consolidation loan. You need to look for a company that has employees who know how to consolidate a single loan with a Consolidation loan. That is probably the best company for you.

Perhaps you are confused about the rules that relate to consolidation loans. Maybe you read back in May of 2006 that former students who married could combine their two groups of loans in one consolidated loan. Maybe you thus decided to marry right out of college. Now you have learned that a husband and wife can not put their loans together in a single consolidation loan.

If that describes the dilemma facing you, then you need to seek out a company that can empathize with your particular problems. You should look for a company that can work with you and your wife as you apply for separate consolidation loans. Maybe you will find a company that feels ready to give you extra great terms, because both you and your wife will be consolidating various student loans at the same time, and with the same company.

Watch out for any company that lets you think that you will enjoy a “free ride,” once you have managed to get a consolidation loan. The company that has worked out the terms for any consolidation loan expects to receive a monthly payment from the former student who has sought out that consolidation loan. That payment will include an interest. If a company gives you a long time in which to pay back a consolidated loan, then you should expect to be paying a rather high interest rate.

Whatever terms you get from any company that consolidates your multiple student loans that company will expect to get money back from you. No company is going to give you a “free ride.” So, once you become the former student who has acquired a Consolidation loan, you should not go out and spend your money on some sort of celebration.

After you have managed to get a Consolidation loan, you need to take a careful look at your budget. You might well want to develop a revised budget. You will want to be sure that you have that single loan payment available to you each month. You need to develop a budget that provides you with that assurance.

Once you get a student consolidation loan, you will notice that you need fewer envelopes every month. Once you get as student consolidation loan, you will not need to buy as many stamps. Still, that does not mean that you have reduced greatly the amount of money that you owe, as compensation to the providers of your student loans.

Once you get a student consolidation loan, you must resist the temptation to saddle yourself with further debts. You need to pay off your student loans as quickly as possible. In that way, you will be able to reap the full benefit of having a college degree. You will be in a position to go after a string of career successes.

A student loan is an investment in your future. Make sure that you can prove to others that you have made a wise investment. Consolidate your loans, pay them off, and then build on the firm foundation that you have created.

Top 3 Student Loan Consolidation Companies

When you consolidate student loans, you can lower your monthly student loan payment by as much as 60 percent. The key is to find the right lender and the right interest rate.

When comparing lenders, you should consider payment fees, interest rates, and loan terms. If you are looking for reputable student loan consolidators online, there are three companies that I highly recommend. These companies can offer you the best rates and save you money by consolidating your student loans.

1. Loan Approval Direct

With a student loan consolidation loan, this company can reduce your monthly student loan payments by as much as 60 percent. Loans as high as $125,000 can be approved and there is no collateral required. Loan Approval Direct also offers interest rates as low as 3 percent.

2. Next Student

If you have not consolidated your loans previously, Next Student offers student loan consolidation services. If you are out of school or if you will be graduating in six months or less, contact this company to find out how you can reduce your monthly student loan payments by as much as 60 percent.

3. DebtConsolidation.com

This online debt consolidator is the parent company of StudentLoanConcolidation.com and can save you a great deal of money on your monthly student loan payments. Their online application is easy to fill out and they can let you know almost immediately if you are eligible for student loan consolidation.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Who is Eligible?

To qualify for a Direct Consolidation Loan, borrowers must have at least one Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) that is in grace, repayment, deferment or default status. Loans that are in an in-school status cannot be included in a Direct Consolidation Loan.

Borrowers can consolidate most defaulted education loans, if they make satisfactory repayment arrangements with the current loan holders or agree to repay their new Direct Consolidation Loan under the Income Contingent Repayment Plan.

Borrowers who do not have Direct Loans may be eligible for a Direct Consolidation Loan if they include at least one FFEL Loan and have been unable to obtain a Federal Consolidation Loan with a FFEL consolidation lender or have been unable to obtain a Federal Consolidation Loan with income-sensitive repayment terms acceptable to them or intend to apply for loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

Borrowers who have only a Direct Consolidation Loan cannot consolidate again unless they include an additional loan.

NOTE: The Direct Loan Servicing Center has information on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

How Does Consolidation Affect My School's Default Ratio?

"Federal Consolidation Loans and Federal Direct Consolidation Loans are not counted directly in the cohort default rate calculation. However, the status of a consolidation loan may affect how the loan(s) that was paid off by the consolidation loan is included in the cohort default rate calculation."

If all of a borrower's underlying loans were included in your school's cohort default rate calculation before they were consolidated, the status of the consolidation loan has no effect on your subsequent cohort default rate calculations. However, if an underlying loan was not included in your cohort default rate calculation before it was consolidated, the consolidation loan's default may cause that underlying loan to be counted as defaulted when it is included in your cohort default rate.

Please see the Cohort Default Rate Guide for complete details and information on consolidation and cohort default rates.

current interest rate

Current Interest Rate

  1. Current Consolidation Interest Rate
  2. Direct Loan and FFEL Interest Rates from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009
  3. Information for borrowers who consolidated during the Repayment Incentive Program (10/1/00 - 9/30/01)


1. Current Consolidation Interest Rate.

The interest rate for a Direct Consolidation Loan is the weighted average of the interest rates on the loans being consolidated (as of the date we receive the application), rounded to the nearest higher one-eighth of one percent. This rate is fixed for the life of the loan and cannot exceed 8.25 percent. Use our online calculator, or call us at 1-800-557-7392, to estimate your weighted average interest rate and to see what your loan payments might be under each of our four repayment plans.

Six steps to calculate the Weighted Average Interest Rate

Step 1:

Multiply each loan by its interest rate to obtain the "per loan weight factor."

Step 2:

Add the per loan weight factors together.

Step 3:

Add the loan amounts together.

Step 4:

Divide the "total per loan weight factor" by the total loan amount and then multiply by 100.

interest rate

Step 5:

*Round the result of Step 4 to the nearest higher one-eighth of one percent if it is not already on an eighth of a percent.

Step 6:

Compare the result of Step 5 with the interest rate cap of 8.25 percent. The fixed interest rate on the Direct Consolidation Loan will be the lower of the two.


2. Direct Loan and FFEL Interest Rates from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009.

3. Information for borrowers who consolidated during the Repayment Incentive Program (10/1/00 - 9/30/01)

As an incentive to encourage timely student loan repayments, all borrowers who consolidated eligible student loans into the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan Program between October 1, 2000, and September 30, 2001 received an immediate interest rate reduction of 0.8 percent. To keep this benefit beyond the initial 12-month period, borrowers must make the first 12 monthly payments on time. The 0.8 percent rate reduction will become permanent once these first 12 payments are made on time.

For example, if your Direct Consolidation Loan interest rate is 8.25 percent, your interest rate drops to 7.45 percent. If you make your first 12 payments on time, you keep that interest rate and could save more than $400 for every $10,000 borrowed over a standard 10-year term.

How Will the Lower Rate Affect Your Loan Before You Fulfill the 12-Payment Requirement?

You will not see a reduction in the amount of your monthly payment until after you fulfill the 12-payment requirement. Until then, the savings that result from the 0.8 percent interest rate reduction will be applied toward reducing the principal balance of your Direct Consolidation Loan.

How Will the Lower Rate Affect Your Loan After You Fulfill the 12-Payment Requirement?

After you successfully fulfill the 12-payment requirement, the 0.8 percent rate reduction will be applied permanently toward your interest rate. At this point, the savings that result from the lower interest rate will be applied toward reducing your monthly payment.

Please Contact Us for Additional Information

Website - See our list of Questions and Answers related to the Repayment Incentive Program.

Phone: Talk with a loan representative between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., EST, Monday through Friday, at 1-800-557-7392 (TDD 1-800-557-7395).

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