If you’re a graduate or college parent with outstanding federal college loans, you may be able to lower your monthly student loan payments by up to 42% simply by consolidating your federal parent or student loans. When you consolidate your eligible federal college loans, you may be able to extend your repayment term from the standard 10 years to up to 30 years. With more time to repay, the amount you have to pay each month will typically be smaller.
Here’s an example: Your estimated monthly payments on a $75,000 Federal Consolidation Loan fixed at 7.25% and repaid over an extended term of 30 years are $512.
Compare that $512 to estimated monthly payments of $879 on a $75,000 Federal Stafford Loan issued at 7.22% and repaid over 10 years.
That’s a 41.8% reduction in your monthly payment amount — just by consolidating your federal student loans.*
Smart Borrowing With Student Loan Consolidation
When you consolidate your eligible federal parent or student loans with the federal student loan consolidation program, you could qualify for all the borrower benefits that come with a Federal student loan consolidation:
* No credit checks or co-signers required
* Fixed interest rates
* Lower monthly payments*
* Longer repayment terms
* One payment for multiple student loans
* Deferred payments†
Lock In Your Student Loan Payments With a Fixed Rate
Although federal PLUS loans and Stafford loans are currently issued at fixed interest rates, PLUS and Stafford loans issued prior to July 1, 2006, are variable-rate student loans. The interest rate on these college loans adjusts every year on July 1.
If you’re a PLUS or Stafford borrower with one of these variable-rate student loans, your monthly payment amount could fluctuate from year to year, depending on your adjusted rate. When interest rates rise, your monthly student loan payments may also go up.
Student loan consolidation replaces your variable-rate student loans with a fixed-rate consolidation loan and puts an end to rate increases and rising payments.
Make Your Student Loan Repayment Easier to Manage
If you have multiple college loans in repayment, say goodbye to the hassle of multiple bills, multiple due dates, and multiple monthly payments to multiple lenders.
With the federal student loan consolidation program, you can bundle all your eligible federal parent or student loans into a single fixed-rate consolidation loan with just one monthly bill, one lender, and one monthly payment that’s fixed for the life of your loan.
Consolidate Your Student Loans to Cut Your Monthly Payments
What is The Best for My Child, Parent Loans or Student Loans
At least 20% of college students need some type of loan to help pay for their college education. Such a statistic can lead to students graduating with an unmanageable debt load. An alternative is for parents to help out by taking out loans themselves. But which is the better option - student loans or parent loans? Each has distinct advantages and uses.
Federal student loans
Federal student loans have the lowest interest rates and best repayment options. If you need to take out loans and you qualify for federal loans, this is your best choice. Just be sure to accept only the funds you need, even if you are offered much more. Parents can always help their children pay off these loans once repayment begins after graduation.
Federal parent loans
PLUS Loans ( Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students) are another loan option that comes with low interest rates. If you are a parent with dependent students attending college at least part-time and you have a good credit history, you are eligible to receive a PLUS Loan. These loans are not needs-based. You can borrow up to the total cost of undergraduate education expenses, minus other financial aid already received. Unlike federal student loans, payment is not deferred until after graduation; instead, your first loan payment will be due about 60 days after the loan is disbursed. Also unlike federal student loans, PLUS Loans require an application fee.
Private loans
Both students and parents can take out private loans to cover funding gaps. Terms are basically the same for these loans, although students may be able to have their repayment deferred until after graduation. Another consideration is that students may wish to take out small loans to begin to establish a credit history. You may need to cosign for private student loans.
Other options
Parents do have some additional options for college funding, such as home equity loans. These often have rates as good as private loans.
So which type of loan should I get?
This really comes down to a personal decision. Ask yourself these questions as you are trying to decide:
* What level of debt do you feel is manageable for your child to graduate with?
* How important is it to you that your child takes responsibility for paying student loans?
* Will you and your child work out a repayment plan to repay PLUS Loans and other parent loans?
How does Student Loan Consolidation work?
Student loans are a great source of financial aid for students who need help paying for their education. Unfortunately, students often leave college with burdensome debt. In addition, they often have multiple loans from different lenders, meaning they are writing more than one loan repayment check each month. The solution to this problem is loan consolidation.
What is loan consolidation?
Loan consolidation means bundling all your student loans into a single loan with one lender and one repayment plan. You can think of loan consolidation as akin to refinancing a home mortgage. When you consolidate your student loans, the balances of your existing student loans are paid off, with the total balance rolling over into one consolidated loan. The end result is that you have only one student loan to pay on.
Both students and their parents can consolidate loans.
Should I consolidate my loans?
Loan consolidation offers many benefits:
* Locks in a fixed, usually lower, interest rate for the term of your loan, potentially saving you thousands of dollars (depending on the interest rates of your original loans)
* Lowers your monthly payment
* Combines your student loan payments into one monthly bill
In addition, consolidated loans have flexible repayment options and no fees, charges, or prepayment penalties. There are also no credit checks or co-signers required.
You should consider consolidating your loans if the consolidation loan would have a lower interest rate than your current loans, particularly if you are having trouble making you monthly payments. However, if you are close to paying off your existing loans, consolidation may not be worth it.
How will the interest rate for the consolidated loan be?
The interest rate for your consolidated loan is calculated by averaging the interest rate of all the loans being consolidated and then rounding up to the next one-eighth of one percent. The maximum interest rate is 8.25 percent.
To figure your interest rate, visit loanconsolidation.ed.gov for an online calculator that will do the math for you.
How much can I save?
How much you save by consolidating loans depends on what interest rate you get and whether you choose to extend your repayment plan. According to Sallie Mae, the leading provider of student loans in the United States, consolidating student loans can reduce monthly payments by up to 54 percent. However, the only way to reduce your payment this much is to extend your repayment plan. You typically have 10 years to repay student loans, but, depending on the amount you're consolidating, you can extend your repayment plan all the way up to 30 years. Remember that if you choose to extend your repayment term, it will take longer to pay off your overall debt and you'll pay more in interest. There are no preypayment penalties, so you can always choose to pay off the loan early.
Am I eligible to consolidate my loans?
In order to consolidate your loans, you must meet the following criteria:
* You are in your six-month grace period following graduation or you have started repaying your loans
* You have eligible loans totaling over $7,500
* You have more than one lender
* You have not already consolidated your student loans, or since consolidation you have gone back to school and acquired new student loans
The following types of loans can be consolidated:
* Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
* Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans
* Direct PLUS Loans and Federal PLUS Loans
* Direct Consolidation Loans and Federal Consolidation Loans
* Guaranteed Student Loans
* Federal Insured Student Loans
* Federal Supplemental Loans for Students
* Auxiliary Loans to Assist Students
* Federal Perkins Loans
* National Direct Student Loans
* National Defense Student Loans
* Health Education Assistance Loans
* Health Professions Student Loans
* Loans for Disadvantaged Students
* Nursing Student Loans
Where can I get a consolidation loan?
You can consolidate your loans through any bank or credit union that participates in the Federal Family Education Loan Program, or directly from the U.S. Department of Education. The loan terms and conditions are generally the same, regardless of where you consolidate. You may want to check first with the lenders that hold your current loans.
If all your loans are with one lender, you must consolidate with that lender.
If you decide to consolidate your student loans, remember that you can only do so once unless you go back to school and take out more loans. Therefore, you will want to make sure you get the best deal the first time. The interest rate will be the same from all lenders, but some lenders may offer future rate discounts for prompt payment and a discount for having monthly payments directly debited from your account.
Can my spouse and I consolidate our loans together?
You can consolidate your loans together, but it is not a good idea for a couple reasons:
* Both of you will always be responsible to repay the loan, even if you later separate or divorce
* If you need to defer payment on the loan, both of you will have to meet the deferment criteria
When should I consolidate my loans?
You can consolidate your loans any time during your six-month grace period or after you have started repaying your loans. If you consolidate during your grace period, you may be able to get a lower interest rate. However, since you will lose the rest of the grace period, it is a good idea to wait until the fifth month of the grace period before consolidating. The consolidation process usually takes 30-45 days.
This article is distributed by NextStudent.com
