Saturday, November 28, 2009

Student Loans:Student Loan Debt Consolidation

To get started you, must determine the loan amount and type you owe. Next, you should contact the lenders or college financial agents and request a loan drop. If you are in debt over your head, then this is the best solution for consolidating your debts. If you fail to seek debt consolidation solutions, then you are at risk of lawsuits, tax refund losses, and possibly of risking wage garnishes. Again, whether or not you can ask for a cancellation will be dependent on the type of loan you took out, when it was issued, and for how much it was issued.

While it is not likely, some schools issue loans under fraudulent pretense. If this is true, then you can demand a cancellation of the loan.

Also, if you suffered from an accident or became ill and the injuries or sickness have disabled you for life, then you can ask for a cancellation on the loan. Military personnel and particular organization members qualify for a cancellation in student loans also. If you are able to get the loan dropped, imagine the money you will have to restore your credit and eliminate other debts.

Finally, if you have paid your monthly installments with good faith until times got hard, you may qualify for a postponement in payments. This is called a deferment request. The student lenders may present you with the "forbearance" option if you ask for a deferment. The "forbearance" means that the lenders will reduce your student payments temporary until you are back on track.

As a student, you have numerous ways to manage your debts if you are currently in over your head. Do not assume that there is no solution; instead, spend your time researching instead of worrying.


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Sunday, November 15, 2009

How To Use Federal Student Loans

The Federal plan that provides student loans is called the Direct Loan program. This is a low interest loan for students and parents to help pay for education beyond high school.

These student loans are issued by the U.S. Department of Education directly, and there are no banks involved with these loans. Because you are borrowing directly from the federal government you will be able to administer everything to do with your loans using the Direct Loan Servicing Center. This makes it easier especially if you have multiple loans from different schools.

There are a number of types of student loans that fall under the Direct Loan Program and there are some important differences that you should be aware of about how they charge interest.

The subsidized loan is for students that have a financial need determined by federal regulations. With this loan there are no interest charges while the student is in school at least half time. There is also no interest charge during the six month grace period following the completion or termination of classes, nor any deferment periods.

The unsubsidized student loan is not based on financial need, and there will be interest charged as soon as the money is distributed. This means that even though you are not obligated to pay on the loan while in school, you will be charged interest during this period. You will also be charged interest during the six month grace period and any deferment periods.

The Plus loan is an unsubsidized loan for the parent of the student to help cover any educational costs not covered by any other financial assistance. Interest is charged during all periods for this type of loan.

There is also a Consolidation loan that combines any eligible federal student loans into one Direct Consolidation Loan. This has the advantages to lower your monthly payments by spreading you loan out over a longer term. While you will lower your monthly payment, you will pay more interest because of the longer term.

You can apply for any of the Direct Loans by filling out the Federal Student Aid application online. The information in the application is transmitted to the school you list in the applications and is used to determine all financial aid that might be available to the student.

There are no required payments for student loans that are due until the student falls below a half time status and there is also a six month grace period after graduation or termination in most cases.


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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Student Loan Debt, Possibility lies in federal loan consolidation to be free from

The possibility of federal loan consolidation can bring needed relief to graduates who are dealing with staggering educational debt. Thanks to the Higher Education Act government loans are eligible for free online debt consolidation . Funding that was made available for educational purposes through government programs such as the Federal Family Education Loan program, or FFEL, and the Direct Loan program can be consolidated.As with other consolidating loans, borrowers are able to attain a larger amount of government insured funds to pay off previous government educational loans. This federal student loan consolidation approach reduces the monthly payment for the borrower and simplifies the process of paying back educational debt. In some cases, there can also be significant savings for borrowers in the area of interest rates and lending terms. Repayment with the help of debt settlement company or their schedule schedules can change as well. Longer pay back terms can ease the financial strain for graduates at a time when they are building their careers and beginning new lives away from a school environment. The hope behind these federal loan consolidation programs is that the borrower will find it easier to make good on any educational debt that may have accumulated while they were pursuing their degree. The easier repayment terms will hopefully mean that there will be fewer borrowers who find it necessary to default on their educational loans.

After years spent earning a graduate or undergraduate degree, many former students do not have the extra funds to handle the costs of multiple loans. Consolidating bills may be the only means of financial survival for anyone who is just starting out in life. There are three different types of federal consolidation loans programs, the Stafford loan consolidation, the PLUS loan consolidation, and graduate financing. Refinancing in the Stafford program involves rolling existing Stafford loans into one. This funding is generally offered at a fixed interest rate and can result in significant monthly savings for the student. PLUS loans can only be consolidated if there is a minimum of twenty thousand dollars in debt or more. The third type of federal student’s school loan consolidation involves graduate loans. A benefit of this kind of debt consolidation is that it allows the borrower to pull current graduate school debt together with any earlier loans for undergraduate expenses. By bringing all of this debt together under one source of financing, the overall debt becomes much more manageable for the borrower.


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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Is Debt Consolidation your debt relief for credit card debt

Many families today are carrying an average of $12,000 in credit card debt...are you one of them? With interest rates at an all time high, paying off that credit card debt can be a challenging task at best. Many families today who find themselves in so much debt are struggling to meet their minimum payments and by just paying the onal loans, student loans, unpaid medical bills, repossessed automotive loans, back taxes and more. These types of programs will contact your creditors once you're enrolled on their program to have your interest rates drastically reduced and your late fees eliminated. In addition, several of these types of debt consolidation companies can contact your creditors once you've been enrolled for several months to have your accounts re-aged and brought to current.

Upon completion of the program you will be debt free and your accounts will show that they have been paid. Just imagine all the extra money you could be saving every month instead of paying those debts now!

Our Credit Counseling Program is dedicated to helping it's client's pay off their unsecured debts at a reduced rate, getting them out of debt at a more rapid pace. We offer a no obligation, no fee application form to our visitors, once completed a representative will contact you to discuss the specifics of our program with you.


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Monday, September 28, 2009

Student Loans: Lower Student Loan Repayments With Student Loan Consolidation

Student loan consolidation is a great idea when used correctly and can help a student or a graduate out of a tough financial spot, however, they are not as financially beneficial as they first seem!

Pretty much all student loans are variable loans and as a result repayments can vary often, consolidating student debt is a good way to obtain a ixed rate and is especially beneficial when interest rates are low as they are presently.

Student loan consolidation is generally only available to those students who have a good repayment history having always paid their student loans on time. However, should your repayment history be anything else but perfect it is not the end of the road as there are alternatives that can be looked into, standard debt consolidation loans and debt management plans to name a couple, so don't give up hope.

The rates applied to consolidation loans are generally 1-2% lower than those applied to the student loans they are replacing which doesn't sound a massive saving but it will save you in the region of 50 to 60% on repayments. This may sound like good business, and in the short term it probably is, but in order to lower the repayments to this level an interest rate of 1 or 2% less just wouldn't cut it so what actually happens is that the term of your loan is extended.

This is a problem with consolidation loans that many choose to ignore as they prefer to see the immediate monthly savings rather than the amount that will eventually be repaid. For example, instead of having several, smaller, student loans each of 5 years repayment term, a consolidation of those same loans would decrease monthly payments massively but the the term of the loan could be extended up to as much as 20 years!

A good way to utilize a student loan consolidation loan is to consolidate all loans to benefit from the lower interest rate but make the same repayments as were being made prior to consolidation and by doing this any debt will be cleared much sooner.

Even if the consolidation was done because previous repayments were unaffordable there will be a time when you wil be able to increase repayments so plan ahead and make a strategy to clear your student debt.

Your goal should always be to clear your student debt as soon as possible, in fact this applies to any debt you may have, and do so without sacrificing the cost of having a life too much. It is always beneficial to seek out and utilize methods of debt elimination that can give you the financial freedom you deserve.


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Monday, August 10, 2009

Student debt grows as tuition increases

As universities struggle to keep tuition affordable and academic programs running, students struggle to afford the cost.And as tuition goes up, so does debt.
Clemson University increased tuition 4.5 percent for in-state students and 7.5 percent for out-of-state students Thursday as it grappled with a loss of $45.7 million in state and endowment funds. Also, the university cut 452 positions to help offset its budget loss.
The university's board of trustees adopted a strategic plan after months of trying to find methods of keeping tuition hikes reasonable for students while maintaining the quality of academic programs, Clemson President James Barker said.
The increased tuition — $234 more a semester for in-state students — will offset about a third of the lost funding, the school said. Total tuition for residents will be $11,576 a year, while non-residents will pay $25,886.
Abby Daniel, undergraduate student body president, said students “appreciate that the (tuition) number has been kept as low as it has.” She said she also is pleased that students next year won't have to worry about classes being cut or teachers being gone.
Russ Williams, a Greenville resident and a senior in mechanical engineering, said, “Fortunately it's just a single-digit increase. That's a month of rent.”
He said the increase wasn't a huge deal, and “I won't stress over it.”
He pays for his tuition with two scholarships, including the Life Scholarship, with an engineering bonus, and a pre-paid college fund, which ran out in two years.
Courtney Dixon, a sophomore from Lexington, said she is lucky to have scholarships and student grants, but she also needs student loans as well as her parents' help to have money for college.
“A tuition increase is not something to be happy about,” she said, especially with the weak economy.

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Monday, July 20, 2009

Private Student Loan Consolidation, Is There A Best One?

Private student loan consolidation cannot be generally mixed with federal student loans due to the low interest rate on the latter. However, there are several options open to refinance the private student loans by replacing them with another.
The main advantage of doing this is that instead of making several monthly payments, only a single payment is made every month that may be reduced although this will cost one in terms of higher interest amount paid because the single loan may be for a longer period of time.
There is a way to secure a lower interest rate. The private student loan is based on the credit score. If the credit score has improved by 50 to 100 points due to the fact that you have graduated and have a job, then you will be rewarded with a low interest rate.
Another way of getting a better deal when considering a private student loan consolidation is to talk to the holders of your debts. They may be willing to negotiate with you and cut down your interest rate so that they can keep you as their customer.
This type of loan also incurs the same interest that the home equity loan has. You can have a home equity loan at a fixed rate, thus locking in the low interest rate. However sometimes a variable rate looks attractive as long as you can watch it and lock it the moment it is on an upward trend.
Study carefully the terms of the agreement. Find out if the interest rate is variable or fixed. Ask also about fees and if there are prepayment penalties. Find out how much they are for each of the following lenders. Write them down so you can get the best deal from among the following list and whatever other companies willing to do the private student consolidation loan with you:
Key Education Consolidation Loan - $75,000 maximum for non-key debt, $7500 minimum, 10, 15, 30 year repayment term, no prepayment penalty and no fees
Citi Student Loans - $75,000 maximum, $7500 minimum, choose fixed or variable rate, up to 30 year term rate, rate reduction after 48 monthly on time payments, no prepayment penalty
Educated Borrower Private Consolidation Loan - $300,000 maximum, $7500 minimum, up to 30 year repayment term, no prepayment penalty and 0 to 5% origination fees
Sallie Mae Private Consolidation Loan - $275,000 maximum, $5000 minimum, 15 to 30 year repayment term, choose between fixed and variable rate, no prepayment penalty and no fees
SC Student Loan - PAL Consolidation Loan - $150,000 maximum, $5000 minimum, 10 to 30 year repayment term, choose between fixed and variable rate, no prepayment penalty and no fees
Next Student Private Consolidation Loan - $300,000 maximum, $7500 minimum, up to 30 year repayment term, no prepayment penalty and 0 to 5% origination fees
Make sure when you are considering to go this route that you clarify all the terms of the agreement as the above may have changed and that all are put in writing and signed by both parties. The best one is the one that fits your needs. There you have some of the possible lenders and the other options when considering to do the private student loan consolidation.

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