Debt Consolidation Loan | Debt Consolidation Program

If you are graduating college soon, now is the time to begin preparations for your student consolidation loan. You have a six month grace period after graduation before payments begin, but the consolidation loan application process can take several weeks, especially if you haven't gathered all your loan information and decided on a lender. If you are already in a repayment status, you will know your exact monthly payments. However if you are still in school or in your grace period, you should estimate your monthly non-consolidated loan payment based on the current interest rates and your loan balance.

You can also check your estimated payment amounts by contacting your lenders or loan servicers.

Budget? What's a Budget? Though many people wander through life from paycheck to paycheck without knowing where their money is going, you really need to set up a budget to see if student loan consolidation is for you. Once you have that first job, determine a reasonable amount of your income that can be allocated to your student loan payments. This percentage should be based on a realistic budget. Then see if the estimated loan payment amounts you calculated above will fit into your budget.

If your estimated or actual payment exceeds that monthly budgeted amount, reevaluate your income and outflow. Can you trim any areas of your budget? Can you increase your income?

If it's a short term issue (expected raise in pay, getting a part time job, etc.), consider your deferment or forbearance options. However, if there is no light at the end of the tunnel, it is time to consider consolidating your student loans.

Select loans for consolidation. Determine which of your loans are eligible for federal consolidation. A listing of the loans that can be consolidated in addition to Stafford and Perkins can be found at Eligible Consolidation Loans.

Private student loans are not eligible to be consolidated through the Federal consolidation programs. You might lose some discharge (cancellation) benefits or deferment benefits if you include certain types of loans in your consolidation loan like Federal Perkins Loans, for example. You can contact the holders of your loans to find out what the impact of consolidation will be on your current benefits.

Consolidate Your Loans. Try going through the Federal Direct Loan Consolidation Program. You can make the application online.

If you have graduated, but are still in the grace period, start the consolidation process approximately two months before the end of the grace period. This will allow enough time to have your consolidation loan processed before the grace period expires, yet not so early that you lose too much of your grace period if you have a FFEL consolidation loan. (If you consolidate FFEL loans during the grace period, you will give up whatever portion of your grace period remains. You retain all of your grace period, however, if you get a Direct Consolidation Loan.) Some FFEL lenders offer to hold disbursement of consolidation loans until the end of the grace period to enable borrowers to minimize their interest rate and maximize their grace period. Check with your lender to be certain.

Keep in mind that if you consolidate during your grace period, you can lock in an interest rate at least a half percent lower than the current repayment rate. Many lenders will give you a discounted rate if you sign up for electronic payment and also for making a certain number (usually 36) of on-time payments.

When filling out the consolidation application, make sure you provide complete and correct address information, include two references, and sign the promissory note. Miss any of these and you will delay the processing of your application.

If you are already in repayment, continue making payments on your loans until consolidation is completed. If you need immediate payment relief, request deferment or forbearance

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Unlike many student loans, the money for the alternative student loans is sent directly to the student, not the institution that he or she is attending. Students are not encouraged to look at alternative student loans as a “first choice,” when searching for a way to pay for a college education. Students might also consider how quickly they can obtain the loan. The Act private loans are fast, and they do no require the completion of a FAFSA. Still, students should take note of the fact that awarding of the Act private loans is based on the applicant’s credit.

Different lenders have different repayment options. The student in need of a loan should study those options. An ideal lender is willing to defer payment until after the student has graduated.

Some lenders, such as Astrive, give student loan recipients an opportunity to refinance any of their alternative student loans.
Such loans can fill a funding “gap.” Often such a “gap” is created when a student is awarded a Stafford or Perkins loan, and then realizes that the amount in the loan does not fully cover all of the student’s expenses.

The Lenders of Alternative Student Loans

The lenders of alternative student loans have put their loan applications online. Those applications are for secured loans. The lenders thus seek some “security” when providing a student with loan money.

Students can easily download an application for one of the alternative student loans. Once downloaded, the application can be filled out and sent to the prospective lender. One word of warning: Students should study the details on the alternative student loans before submitting any application.

The lenders of the private, alternative student loans hope to profit from their ability and their willingness to loan money to college students. As a result, they often attach stiff fees to the loan. Those fees are sometimes paid at the time of the loan application. In other instances, lenders have added those fees to the interest rate for the student’s loan.

Comparing Different Alternative Student Loans

Students who want to compare the offering of the various lenders might feel like they are comparing “apples and oranges.” Students might wonder how a high fee and lower interest compares to a low fee and a higher interest rate. In another case if you need long term and you don't fall under need based, with low interest rate, or you want additional financial support, then unsubsidized federal Stafford loan is best for you. Here interest will be paid by you. And if you are independent student then you should go for Additional unsubsidized federal Stafford loan.

There is another kind of federal loan termed as federal parent plus loans, they are better for the parents of undergraduate students, who depend on their parents and parents of independent students can't apply. For this kind of loans it necessary to check credits, they have flexible repayment options and can be used for saving money during repayments of another loan. Prepayment fine is not charged, no wages or security required, repayments can be postpone till 60 months along with the school time period of your dependent child.

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Today's career minded students can get help with the burden of having several student loans. One can focus on their chosen career, instead of losing sleep over paying several monthly student loan payments. Student loan debt consolidation can be the solution with several advantages.

How Student Loan Consolidation Works

Here is typically how a student consolidation loan works. When a student first applied for several loans from several different agencies and student loan providers, they each gave a different interest rate
and term for paying back the loans. The idea of student loan consolidation, is to take all the different student loans and put them into one easy convenient loan. You them only have to make one monthly loan payment every month, instead of several loan payments every month over time. This saves the student both time and money. Having a lower interest rate and less checks to write every month are a couple of advantages of doing a student loan consolidation.

5 Helpful Benefits of Student Loan Consolidation

1. Lower Monthly Payments. Depending on your student loan situation and the type of lender you choose, you may be able to lower your monthly payments by up to 50%

2. Having Simple Loan Payments. By consolidating your student loans, you only have one loan payment per month and one check to write. This is very beneficial if you are writing several checks every month to multiple lenders.

3. Having Fixed Interest Rates. With some federal consolidation loans you can have a fixed rate for the life of your student loan. It's best to do research to see what the best interest rates and term you are eligible for. You can check online to calculate the interest rate on a new student consolidation loan based on the rates of your current student loans. You can then round up to the nearest 1/8th of a percent of the weighted average of the interest rates on your eligible student loans.

4. Extending Your Payment Period. You may have a lot of student loan debt. With federal consolidation loans you may be able to extend the payment term up to 30 years. It's a good idea to realize you will end up paying more interest over the life of your student loan consolidation. The idea is to get some leverage until your career takes off. You can focus on making money instead of several monthly loan payments.

5. In School Consolidation Programs. While still in school, eligible students can lock in a low rate. This would put you into repayment status, but since you are still in school, you are automatically put into deferment. The drawback of consolidating your loans while in school, is that you lose your 6 month grace period. The solution to this would be to request forbearance for up to 1 year on your student loan consolidation. Here again you can do some research and get more information online.

Student Loan Consolidation Help Online

With today's Internet technology, you can get a student loan consolidation quickly and easily. The Internet makes research and finding great programs, easy as a few clicks of the mouse. You can learn everything you need to know from information sites that provide the latest news and data in regards to student loan debt consolidation.

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Bankruptcy and debt consolidation program can both remove your debt. Before choosing between bankruptcy vs debt consolidation, educate yourself on the pros and cons of each solution.

The Advantages Of Bankruptcy

Filing bankruptcy will grant you immediate but only temporary relief with the automatic stay. Debt collection by creditors are no longer allowed and annoying phone calls, repossessions, and mortgage foreclosures are all stopped temporarily.
If discharge through a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is not possible, then a repayment plan through Chapter 13 is your next alternative. A bankruptcy repayment plan will allow a debtor to payoff debts over a three- or five-year period. A Chapter 13 repayment plan is like a debt consolidation program with more restrictions.

The Negative Effects Of Bankruptcy

The biggest disadvantage of bankruptcy is the immediate impact on your credit score. You cannot remove bankruptcy from your credit report for 7-10 years.
Since bankruptcy is a federal court case, you need to give detailed financial records to the court and creditors. On a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a trustee will liquidate your assets and divide it equally to all your creditors. Under a Chapter 13 repayment plan, payments may be deducted from your paycheck for up to five years.

You cannot use bankruptcy again for the next eight years after the discharge of your debts.

The Advantages Of Debt Consolidation Program

Debt consolidation saves an individual from handling large debts from multiple creditors. It combines all your debts into a single debt management program. Similar to bankruptcy, you can avoid harassing collection calls from debt collectors. The consolidation company will handle and negotiate with your creditors on your behalf.

The Negative Effects Of Debt Consolidation Program

Debt consolidation will have less of an impact on your credit score. Until you fully pay your accounts, a remark saying that you are paying by credit-counseling agency will appear on your credit report.

Choosing Between Bankruptcy Versus Debt Consolidation Program

There is really no simple solution to getting yourself out of debt. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy can instantly give you debt relief but at the cost of your assets and credit score. Debt consolidation is simpler with minimum effect on your credit, however it does take time.

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