To most of the fresh graduates out there, it is a painful issue to pay back the loans they have taken to support their college or university studies. If you are currently paying multiple interest rates to multiple loan agencies, you should know how that feels. Have you ever imagine that you can save thousands of dollars by consolidating your student loans? In fact, you can either go for federal student loan consolidation or private student loan consolidation.
Loan agencies
As the name implies, federal loan consolidation is offered by the federal government. It doesn’t need credit check or co-signer (guarantor) because this loan consolidation program is protected by the federal government.
Private student loan consolidation is offered by banks, loan agencies or credit unions. And depending on the loan agencies, you might need to provide a co-signer or get your credit history check.
How they work
Both programs are meant to combine the multiple loans you have into one loan and extend your loan period so that you can enjoy lower monthly payment. For federal student loan consolidation program, you can only combine your federal loans. But for private student loan consolidation, it is possible to consolidate your student loans together with your personal loans.
Besides that, when you are going for federal student loan consolidation, your interest rate will be lock at the current low interest rate for the whole loan period. For private student loan consolidation however, your interest rate might fluctuate with the market rate. You can try to talk to the loan agency to look at the possibility of getting the lowest interest rate.
Advantages
You can improve your credit score when you consolidate your student loans with both programs. This is because when you have consolidated your loans, you are being seen as servicing one single loan instead of multiple loans.
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Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sorting Your Web Of Debt With Acs Student Loan Consolidation
Of all the mistakes you can make as a student, one stands high above the others; falling behind on your student loan debt and defaulting. This is something that can follow you well into your professional career. With ACS student loan consolidation, though, you can sort through the loans and give yourself the ability to relax and breathe a little easier.
If your student loans are so high that just doing the math gives you a major headache, ACS student loan consolidation can combine all your loans into only one or two loans, and use one simple account for you to make payments.
If you are in danger of defaulting on your student loans, consolidation is something well worth considering. Defaulted loans can have negative effects on your credit and finances, and these effects last for years, well after you have graduated.
If it has been long enough since you defaulted, the federal government can actually deduct 15 percent of your paycheck to repay your student loans. The United States Treasury can also take your tax refunds and apply them towards your student loan balances as well. Beyond these acts, your defaulted loans also appear on your credit report, which can prevent you from being able to buy a house or car, credit card, and in some cases can work against you when trying to get a job or rent an apartment.
ACS student loan consolidation can be applied for using the web, and through their website you will be able to manage your loans. Using their ExpressPay service, you can even pay your loans right through the site as well. The ACS student loan consolidation application process is entirely paperless,instead relying on electronic signatures to sign legal documents.
Student debtors may apply for three types of ACS consolidation programs. There is a Stafford loan program, which is for undergrad students applying for a loan for themselves. There is a Graduate Plus loan, for grad students applying for a loan on their own behalf. Lastly is the Parent Plus loan, which is for parents and legal guardians applying for a loan on behalf of a student.
Source
If your student loans are so high that just doing the math gives you a major headache, ACS student loan consolidation can combine all your loans into only one or two loans, and use one simple account for you to make payments.
If you are in danger of defaulting on your student loans, consolidation is something well worth considering. Defaulted loans can have negative effects on your credit and finances, and these effects last for years, well after you have graduated.
If it has been long enough since you defaulted, the federal government can actually deduct 15 percent of your paycheck to repay your student loans. The United States Treasury can also take your tax refunds and apply them towards your student loan balances as well. Beyond these acts, your defaulted loans also appear on your credit report, which can prevent you from being able to buy a house or car, credit card, and in some cases can work against you when trying to get a job or rent an apartment.
ACS student loan consolidation can be applied for using the web, and through their website you will be able to manage your loans. Using their ExpressPay service, you can even pay your loans right through the site as well. The ACS student loan consolidation application process is entirely paperless,instead relying on electronic signatures to sign legal documents.
Student debtors may apply for three types of ACS consolidation programs. There is a Stafford loan program, which is for undergrad students applying for a loan for themselves. There is a Graduate Plus loan, for grad students applying for a loan on their own behalf. Lastly is the Parent Plus loan, which is for parents and legal guardians applying for a loan on behalf of a student.
Source
Monday, August 3, 2009
Student Loans: Easing the Burden - loan consolidation
Get a break on your payments so you can manage your other debt, too.
It's payback time for students who graduated from college last spring owing money on federal student loans. Your six-month-long grace period is about to end, and the money you owe--an average of $16,600 for undergraduates 18 to 25, according to Nellie Mae, a major student-loan provider--is looming large. The burden is still heavier when you add on credit card debt, which Nellie Mae says averages $2,000 for the same group of students, and maybe even payments you're making on a new car. What's the best way to balance the load?
Rebecca Carter has a plan. Carter, 31, is a veteran of student loans, having repaid about $7,500 from her first stab at college a decade ago. Two years ago she returned to school to complete her degree in business administration at Eastern Nazarene College, in Quincy, Mass.; she graduated in August with $23,000 in outstanding loans.
Carter is wiser, if not richer, the second time around. Before she begins repayment next March, Carter plans to consolidate loans from three lenders (with interest averaging about 7.5%) into a new loan from a single lender, and to extend the payment term from the standard ten years to 20 years. Carter estimates that loan consolidation will reduce her monthly payments 40%, so that she'll pay between $200 and $250 a month. That will give her breathing room to make payments on her more-expensive car loan at 11%.
Once the car is paid off, she hopes to put the extra money toward the student loans and still repay them in ten years. "I understand debt a lot better this time around because I've lived it," says Carter, who is also a manager of loan origination at Nellie Mae.
A WINNING STRATEGY. Carter's plan to knock off her more-expensive loan first and then concentrate her resources on her remaining debt is a winner, says Amy Cole, an educator at the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southern New England. A credit card charging 18% interest is a heavier burden than a student loan: The highest rate on student loans currently outstanding is 8.25%. If student loans are your only liability, focus first on those with the highest rate. Even if your budget is tight, don't rule out investing some of your resources if you can earn a higher return than the interest rate you're paying on your loan.
The standard repayment plan for student loans calls for equal monthly payments and a ten-year payback period. If that's more than you can afford, call your lender before the grace period ends to ask about other repayment options. For example, Carter is a prime candidate for loan consolidation because she owes money to three different lenders at different rates. With the consolidated loan, the interest rate will be a weighted average of all the loans, rounded up by one-fourth of a percentage point. Variable rates for government-sponsored Stafford loans are unusually low now, so consolidating locks in an attractive rate. Once you're locked in, however, you're stuck if the Stafford rate happens to drop in the future.
Source
It's payback time for students who graduated from college last spring owing money on federal student loans. Your six-month-long grace period is about to end, and the money you owe--an average of $16,600 for undergraduates 18 to 25, according to Nellie Mae, a major student-loan provider--is looming large. The burden is still heavier when you add on credit card debt, which Nellie Mae says averages $2,000 for the same group of students, and maybe even payments you're making on a new car. What's the best way to balance the load?
Rebecca Carter has a plan. Carter, 31, is a veteran of student loans, having repaid about $7,500 from her first stab at college a decade ago. Two years ago she returned to school to complete her degree in business administration at Eastern Nazarene College, in Quincy, Mass.; she graduated in August with $23,000 in outstanding loans.
Carter is wiser, if not richer, the second time around. Before she begins repayment next March, Carter plans to consolidate loans from three lenders (with interest averaging about 7.5%) into a new loan from a single lender, and to extend the payment term from the standard ten years to 20 years. Carter estimates that loan consolidation will reduce her monthly payments 40%, so that she'll pay between $200 and $250 a month. That will give her breathing room to make payments on her more-expensive car loan at 11%.
Once the car is paid off, she hopes to put the extra money toward the student loans and still repay them in ten years. "I understand debt a lot better this time around because I've lived it," says Carter, who is also a manager of loan origination at Nellie Mae.
A WINNING STRATEGY. Carter's plan to knock off her more-expensive loan first and then concentrate her resources on her remaining debt is a winner, says Amy Cole, an educator at the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southern New England. A credit card charging 18% interest is a heavier burden than a student loan: The highest rate on student loans currently outstanding is 8.25%. If student loans are your only liability, focus first on those with the highest rate. Even if your budget is tight, don't rule out investing some of your resources if you can earn a higher return than the interest rate you're paying on your loan.
The standard repayment plan for student loans calls for equal monthly payments and a ten-year payback period. If that's more than you can afford, call your lender before the grace period ends to ask about other repayment options. For example, Carter is a prime candidate for loan consolidation because she owes money to three different lenders at different rates. With the consolidated loan, the interest rate will be a weighted average of all the loans, rounded up by one-fourth of a percentage point. Variable rates for government-sponsored Stafford loans are unusually low now, so consolidating locks in an attractive rate. Once you're locked in, however, you're stuck if the Stafford rate happens to drop in the future.
Source
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