Student Consolidation Loans

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Author:
Dean Shainin

Consolidating your student loan enables you not only to take advantage of lower rates, but you can also lock in that rate for the life of your loan. What benefits do you get from consolidating your student loan? Basically, the key benefits are one lower fixed rate; one low monthly payment and one lender. By consolidating multiple student loans into one lower monthly payment, you gain the freedom to better manage your monthly budget, and invest more of your earnings for the future.

Consolidation loans allow you to combine different types of federal student loans to simplify repayment, and FFEL student loan consolidation is one of the options you can have.

A FFEL consolidation loan is designed to help borrowers consolidate several types of federal student loans with various repayment schedules into one loan, which enables them to make only one payment a month.

Under the FFEL program, the loan consolidation will be made by a commercial lender. After this, credit bureaus will tell you that you already have a zero balance in your account, and then you will sign a fresh promissory note indicating that you will have a new interest rate and schedule of repayment.

However, for you to be able to obtain the FFEL consolidation loan, you are required to be currently in repayment on the loan you defaulted or that you have been able to make at least three voluntary monthly payments in full and on time.

What are the disadvantages of availing student loan consolidations? Any disadvantages would actually depend on you the borrower and how they handle their loan. If you take longer to pay your student loan, then it means you will pay more interest during the course of the life of your loan.

On the other hand, by consolidating your loans, there are really no penalties in prepayment and if you continually pay the same amount payments before actually consolidating your loans, the interest you will incur would not increase thus you will be able to pay the loan faster than when you did not consolidate your loans. With a consolidated student loan, 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.

The United States Department of Education does not allow any borrower to refinance a student loan consolidation. However, if a borrower has an additional federal loan that is not originally included in the loan consolidation, then these debts may be added and calculated again into a another Federal Consolidation Loan.

Another advantage of a student loan consolidation is that a borrower is still entitled to avail of the same Federal benefits. This is because student loan consolidation is a federal program. And being it a federal program, a borrower is welcome and is entitled to various benefits such as deferment, interest that is tax deductible and forbearance. In addition, the loan is guaranteed by the government and is insured federally.

Here are some student loans that are eligible for consolidation are as follows; Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans (SS) & Guaranteed Student Loans (GSL), Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans (DSS), Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans (DUS), Direct PLUS Loans (DPLUS), Direct Unsubsidized Consolidation Loan (DUCON), including Direct PLUS Consolidation Loans, Unsubsidized and Non-subsidized Federal Stafford Loans (US), Federal Nursing Loans (NSL) and Health Education Assistance Loans (HEAL).

It is advisable to take advantages of consolidating your loan and enjoy the benefits of making one single payment per month and having a lower interest rate which enables you to make some savings.

Dean Shainin is a consultant specializing in student loan consolidation. Get valuable resources, tools, information and more articles on student loan consolidation, visit this site: http://www.studentloanconsolidationtips.com

Get free valuable online tips for debt consolidation from his: Student Loan Consolidation website.

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Student Loans... 3 Things You Should Look For In A Student Loan Consolidation Lender Want to consolidate your student loans? It's a good idea, since it can mean locking in a low interest rate for life. And changing to a new lender may have other advantages, too, since another lender may offer better perks and benefits. So as you search around for a Student Loan Consolidation Lender, remember to look for these three things: ONLINE ACCESS Online access simplifies the entire process, from application to payments. You'll be able to apply online instantly without the hassle of dealing with a lot of paperwork (although you may have to sign some official papers before the consolidation is complete). Once your loans are consolidated, you'll be able to check balances, make payments and change all your information by simply accessing the lender's website. RATE DROP FOR ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS Some Student Loan Consolidation lenders offer a bonus if you decide to make electronic payments. You'll need to give the lender your banking information--such as your bank account name, number and the routing number of the bank. Then you designate the amount you want to pay each month. Once it's set up, your student loan payment is automatically debited from your bank account on a designated day. In many cases, if you make this type of arrangement with your Student Loan lender, they'll automatically drop your interest about 0.5%. RATE DROP FOR ON-TIME PAYMENTS Just as some lenders will drop your rate when you sign up for electronic payments, others will give you a lower rate once you have a history of on-time payments. This means, however, that you never make a single late payment--or, if you signed up for electronic payments, that the money is always available in your account when the Student Loan company attempts to debit it. Once you have solid...