Consolidate Student Loans Programs

By Sam Ferdi

Student Loan Consolidation

Student Loan Consolidation

When to consolidate:

To consolidate student loans has emerged as a type of loan consolidation combining together either all or some of your education loans which are outstanding. The resulting single loan is the consolidated student loan which is altogether a new loan product distinct from its constituent loan items.

If you are close to defaulting on your loan because you are having trouble with making your monthly payments then student loan consolidation needs to seriously be considered. There are a lot of different research tools online that include calculators that can help you figure out exactly what your new payments would be with the various programs that are available.

Only student loans are qualified for a student loans consolidation; that means you can’t pay off your credit cards, car, or furniture with a student loans consolidation.

Prior to any loan consolidation, you will have to deal with arranging regular monthly repayments with several lenders. Each lender has their own set of due dates, their specific minimum due date and different payment methods. Since they are separately managed, you have to make sure that each and every payment is successfully remitted in a timely manner to avoid a negative credit score. Once you consolidate student loans debt, you no longer have to prepare separate monthly repayments to all your lenders.

Available consolidate student loan programs:

  • Federal Student Loans Consolidation program.
    • Has the lowest fixed interest rates, varying from 1.5% to approximately 4.5% with payment terms of up to 30 years
    • Can reduce your payments as much as 50% a month
    • Do not require income verification or credit reports, so those who have just begun a new job and have bad or no-credit loans still qualify to consolidate their student loans.
  • Direct Student Loans Consolidation, which requires a borrower to have at least one direct student loan, a verifiable income, and no adverse credit to qualify.
  • Private Student Loans Consolidation, is feasible for the former student who is set in a job and has a means of support.

Consolidate student loans advantages:

The best time to go for debt consolidation of your federal student loans is when you still are in your grace period, because of the lower in-school interest rate. Every student has his or her reasons for entering a consolidate student loans program.