Mortgage Forum

Zino · April 28th, 2008, 10:31 PM

Federal student loans are easier to pay and brings less long term hassle and panic if these debts are converted into Federal Student Loan Consolidation. Consolidating your loan means that all the different types of student loans you acquired will be combined in one loan. Doing so has many advantages. Since federal student loan interest rates are currently at their lowest, loan consolidation actually means that the interest rate used for the whole duration of your loan is fixed.

However, there are also disadvantages when one avails student loan consolidations. It all depends on you, really. If you think it would take you a longer time to pay off your student loan, you will then consequently pay more interest during the course of your whole loan repayment. However, since in consolidating your loans, there are really no penalties in prepayment and if you continually pay the same amount of payments before actually consolidating your loans, the interest you will incur would not increase. You will be able to pay the student loan off faster than when you did not consolidate your loans.

One category you could take into consideration regarding federal student loans is availing of the FFEL consolidation loan. This loan program helps any borrower via multiple repayment schedules. Through the FFEL loan consolidation program, only one payment is made each month. In the FFEL program, the student loan consolidation you will be acquiring will be made by a commercial lender, after which credit bureaus will tell you that you already have a zero balance in your account, after doing so you will then sign a fresh promissory note indicating that you will have a new interest rate and schedule of repayment. But, in order to avail of the FFEL student loan consolidation, you must currently be in repayment on the loan you defaulted or that you have been able to make at least three voluntary and on time monthly payments in full.

Again, refinancing student loans depends on the borrower. The United States Department of Education does not in any way allow any borrower to refinance a student loan consolidation. But if in case a borrower has an additional federal loan that is not originally included in the loan consolidation, these debts may then be added and calculated again into a another Federal Consolidation Loan. Another advantage when one avails of student loan consolidation is that there are no fees or charges incurred. The United States Department of Education does not in any way make charges or collects any fees to any borrower who avails of the student loan consolidation.

So now that the details and advantages have been outlined, the following is a basic list of some student loans that are eligible to be consolidated: PERK - Federal Perkins Loans, formerly Nations Defense/National Direct student loans (NDSL), PLUS - Federal PLUS (Parent) Loans, SCON - Subsidized Federal Consolidation Loans, UCON- Unsubsidized Federal Consolidation Loans, SLS - Federal Supplemental Loans for Students (formerly Auxiliary Loans to Assist Students (ALAS) and Student PLUS Loans), SS - Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans & Guaranteed student loans (GSL), DSS - Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans, DUS - Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, DPLUS - Direct PLUS Loans, DUCON - Direct Unsubsidized Consolidation Loan, including Direct PLUS Consolidation Loans.

Student loan consolidation has another advantage. A borrower is still entitled to the same Federal benefits. This is because student loan consolidation is a federal program. And it being a federal program, a borrower is more than welcome and is entitled to various benefits such as deferment, interest that is tax deductible and forbearance. Plus, the student loan is guaranteed by the government and is insured federally.

A government student loan consolidation is a program that allows students to consolidate outstanding education loans into a single new loan. This is not limited to only one lender. Even if many lenders hold the loans, you can still opt for the consolidated loan. The government student loan consolidation is beneficial because it will lower your monthly payments since the terms of payment will be extended. The government student loan consolidation is convenient to students and parents since it simplifies the repayment of loan. The monthly amortization will also be lower since the repayment can be spread at a longer period. The interest rate will also be reduced since the borrower will have a lot of benefits plan options. The best time to consolidate loans is right after graduation before the grace period ends. This will allow the borrower to lock in the lowest interest rate possible on the loans.

Government consolidation loans have lower monthly payments and have flexible terms and conditions for repayment. The rates may be as low as 3.5% and are computed at a fix rate. This will also benefit you if you would like to get rid of releasing many checks. With the government consolidated student loans, you will have a single and easy repayment since you only have to sign one check each month. Students with more than $10,000 outstanding student loans are eligible on this program. The borrower should also no longer be in school halftime or even more. There are many types of loans that can be consolidated with this program. They are Stafford Loans, Federal Consolidation Loans, Perkins Loans, Parent Plus Loans, HEAL/HPSL Student Loans, Federal Direct Consolidation Loans and many more.

Private student loans can also be consolidated. However, you should not consolidate federal and a private student loan. That is because you are not able to defer payments on private loan consolidation but you can with the federal loan consolidation if you want to go back to school. With the private loan consolidation, you cannot forbear payments if you ever have economic hardships. Private loans are not eligible in claiming for tax deductions. Also, if the borrowers passed away, federal loans are forgiven while with the private loans, loans are passed to the next kin.

It is important to consolidate federal student loans since it reduces the number of credit loans you may have. This will also create a good credit score that will enable you to better terms for private loan consolidation. Credit check is also not required with the government student loan consolidation since the US government guarantees federal student loans. Application for government student loan consolidation is very easy. Loan Counselors on your schools will be able to advise you of the procedures. You may apply online, via mail or telephone. It will only take 1 to 3 months to consolidate.

If however, you will not be eligible you may consider refinancing your home or investment property to pay off your loans. You may also consider a personal line of credit from the bank or consider a private loan consolidation. Repayment has different terms. For borrowers with $10,000 to $19,999 loan balances have a repayment period of 15 years. Twenty years is allotted for those with $20,000 to $39,999 loan balances. There is a 24 year repayment term for those with $40,000 to $59,999 loan balances. If your loan balance is $60,000 or more, the 30 year program will cover it.

gtull1 · May 7th, 2008, 08:58 PM

I just had to chime in here.

1- Getting a student loan consolidation will save you a lot of money in the long term! When you have numerous student loans spread out over various lenders, your rates will vary. When you consolidate these debts into one fixed rate loan, the amount of money you will save on interest is huge!

2- Consolidating college loans will make your monthly payments go way down. I used to have college loans spread out over about 3 different lenders, and there were actually around 12 different, individual loans at one point. When I consolidated all of the student loans into one, my monthly payments went down by almost 50%!

3- You can only consolidate your student loans from college once. Make sure that you do your homework, shop around for different lenders that specialize in college loan consolidation, and lock the lowest interest rate down that you can find. A lot of young folks will put their loans off for years, only to find that interest rates have risen by several points by the time that they do deal with their university expenses. If you just have loans for undergraduate school, at a public university, this may not add up to a whole lot of money. On the other hand, if you went to graduate or professional school, or a private college institution, the difference in a 5% or a 6% interest rate can be a lot of cold, hard cash.

Great thread here man. i wish I would have found this one when I got out of LSU!!!! Where's my time machine? lolol

rachael24 · May 9th, 2008, 08:02 AM

LOL yeah I wish I found this as well about 6 years ago LOL

mariya08 · May 20th, 2008, 06:31 AM

Yes!! Nice information that you have shared with us.
Thank you very much

olive5630 · June 17th, 2008, 11:00 PM

Really thanks a lot for such a good information.

April 28th, 2008, 10:31 PM	#1
Zino Administrator Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 187	Federal Student Loan Consolidation Federal student loans are easier to pay and brings less long term hassle and panic if these debts are converted into Federal Student Loan Consolidation. Consolidating your loan means that all the different types of student loans you acquired will be combined in one loan. Doing so has many advantages. Since federal student loan interest rates are currently at their lowest, loan consolidation actually means that the interest rate used for the whole duration of your loan is fixed. However, there are also disadvantages when one avails student loan consolidations. It all depends on you, really. If you think it would take you a longer time to pay off your student loan, you will then consequently pay more interest during the course of your whole loan repayment. However, since in consolidating your loans, there are really no penalties in prepayment and if you continually pay the same amount of payments before actually consolidating your loans, the interest you will incur would not increase. You will be able to pay the student loan off faster than when you did not consolidate your loans. One category you could take into consideration regarding federal student loans is availing of the FFEL consolidation loan. This loan program helps any borrower via multiple repayment schedules. Through the FFEL loan consolidation program, only one payment is made each month. In the FFEL program, the student loan consolidation you will be acquiring will be made by a commercial lender, after which credit bureaus will tell you that you already have a zero balance in your account, after doing so you will then sign a fresh promissory note indicating that you will have a new interest rate and schedule of repayment. But, in order to avail of the FFEL student loan consolidation, you must currently be in repayment on the loan you defaulted or that you have been able to make at least three voluntary and on time monthly payments in full. Again, refinancing student loans depends on the borrower. The United States Department of Education does not in any way allow any borrower to refinance a student loan consolidation. But if in case a borrower has an additional federal loan that is not originally included in the loan consolidation, these debts may then be added and calculated again into a another Federal Consolidation Loan. Another advantage when one avails of student loan consolidation is that there are no fees or charges incurred. The United States Department of Education does not in any way make charges or collects any fees to any borrower who avails of the student loan consolidation. So now that the details and advantages have been outlined, the following is a basic list of some student loans that are eligible to be consolidated: PERK - Federal Perkins Loans, formerly Nations Defense/National Direct student loans (NDSL), PLUS - Federal PLUS (Parent) Loans, SCON - Subsidized Federal Consolidation Loans, UCON- Unsubsidized Federal Consolidation Loans, SLS - Federal Supplemental Loans for Students (formerly Auxiliary Loans to Assist Students (ALAS) and Student PLUS Loans), SS - Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans & Guaranteed student loans (GSL), DSS - Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans, DUS - Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, DPLUS - Direct PLUS Loans, DUCON - Direct Unsubsidized Consolidation Loan, including Direct PLUS Consolidation Loans. Student loan consolidation has another advantage. A borrower is still entitled to the same Federal benefits. This is because student loan consolidation is a federal program. And it being a federal program, a borrower is more than welcome and is entitled to various benefits such as deferment, interest that is tax deductible and forbearance. Plus, the student loan is guaranteed by the government and is insured federally. A government student loan consolidation is a program that allows students to consolidate outstanding education loans into a single new loan. This is not limited to only one lender. Even if many lenders hold the loans, you can still opt for the consolidated loan. The government student loan consolidation is beneficial because it will lower your monthly payments since the terms of payment will be extended. The government student loan consolidation is convenient to students and parents since it simplifies the repayment of loan. The monthly amortization will also be lower since the repayment can be spread at a longer period. The interest rate will also be reduced since the borrower will have a lot of benefits plan options. The best time to consolidate loans is right after graduation before the grace period ends. This will allow the borrower to lock in the lowest interest rate possible on the loans. Government consolidation loans have lower monthly payments and have flexible terms and conditions for repayment. The rates may be as low as 3.5% and are computed at a fix rate. This will also benefit you if you would like to get rid of releasing many checks. With the government consolidated student loans, you will have a single and easy repayment since you only have to sign one check each month. Students with more than $10,000 outstanding student loans are eligible on this program. The borrower should also no longer be in school halftime or even more. There are many types of loans that can be consolidated with this program. They are Stafford Loans, Federal Consolidation Loans, Perkins Loans, Parent Plus Loans, HEAL/HPSL Student Loans, Federal Direct Consolidation Loans and many more. Private student loans can also be consolidated. However, you should not consolidate federal and a private student loan. That is because you are not able to defer payments on private loan consolidation but you can with the federal loan consolidation if you want to go back to school. With the private loan consolidation, you cannot forbear payments if you ever have economic hardships. Private loans are not eligible in claiming for tax deductions. Also, if the borrowers passed away, federal loans are forgiven while with the private loans, loans are passed to the next kin. It is important to consolidate federal student loans since it reduces the number of credit loans you may have. This will also create a good credit score that will enable you to better terms for private loan consolidation. Credit check is also not required with the government student loan consolidation since the US government guarantees federal student loans. Application for government student loan consolidation is very easy. Loan Counselors on your schools will be able to advise you of the procedures. You may apply online, via mail or telephone. It will only take 1 to 3 months to consolidate. If however, you will not be eligible you may consider refinancing your home or investment property to pay off your loans. You may also consider a personal line of credit from the bank or consider a private loan consolidation. Repayment has different terms. For borrowers with $10,000 to $19,999 loan balances have a repayment period of 15 years. Twenty years is allotted for those with $20,000 to $39,999 loan balances. There is a 24 year repayment term for those with $40,000 to $59,999 loan balances. If your loan balance is $60,000 or more, the 30 year program will cover it.

May 9th, 2008, 08:02 AM	#3
rachael24 Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Binghamton, NY Posts: 43	LOL yeah I wish I found this as well about 6 years ago LOL __________________ Recent college graduate with a credit consolidation concentration.

May 20th, 2008, 06:31 AM	#4
mariya08 Junior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 26	Yes!! Nice information that you have shared with us. Thank you very much __________________ Mortgage Company

June 17th, 2008, 11:00 PM	#5
olive5630 Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 16	Re: Federal Student Loan Consolidation Really thanks a lot for such a good information. __________________ Apply for Credit Card

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May 7th, 2008, 08:58 PM	#2
gtull1 Administrator Join Date: May 2008 Location: louisiana Posts: 41	I just had to chime in here. 1- Getting a student loan consolidation will save you a lot of money in the long term! When you have numerous student loans spread out over various lenders, your rates will vary. When you consolidate these debts into one fixed rate loan, the amount of money you will save on interest is huge! 2- Consolidating college loans will make your monthly payments go way down. I used to have college loans spread out over about 3 different lenders, and there were actually around 12 different, individual loans at one point. When I consolidated all of the student loans into one, my monthly payments went down by almost 50%! 3- You can only consolidate your student loans from college once. Make sure that you do your homework, shop around for different lenders that specialize in college loan consolidation, and lock the lowest interest rate down that you can find. A lot of young folks will put their loans off for years, only to find that interest rates have risen by several points by the time that they do deal with their university expenses. If you just have loans for undergraduate school, at a public university, this may not add up to a whole lot of money. On the other hand, if you went to graduate or professional school, or a private college institution, the difference in a 5% or a 6% interest rate can be a lot of cold, hard cash. Great thread here man. i wish I would have found this one when I got out of LSU!!!! Where's my time machine? lolol