Student Loan Consolidation Hot Topics

Federal Loan consolidation is a practical way for borrowers to manage their student loan debt. Borrowers may consolidate for one or any combination of reasons. The most common reasons are:

• With only one lender involved you will always know who to contact.
• You will receive one monthly bill each month.
• An extended repayment period-from 10-30 years depending on the total loan balance.
• Renewed Deferments and Forbearance.
• Any subsidized Stafford loans that get consolidated will keep their interest subsidy benefits during deferment.
• If you consolidate during your grace period the interest rate will be lower. That is because the interest that applies to consolidation will be the “grace rate”, which is lower than the rates you pay after entering repayment.
• Depending on the interest rates of your existing loans and how long you take to repay, you could save money if interest rates increase in future.

For further information on loan consolidation or to request an application please visit www.studentloanconsolidator.com

The Student Loan Network: Stafford Federal Student Loans, Parent PLUS Loans, Student Loan Consolidation, Private Student Loans, Education Loans/College Loans

Countless times a day borrowers will phone us at the Student Loan Network complaining that they have been bombarded with information from different lenders offering all sorts of benefits and opportunities if they consolidate with their company. Borrowers seek out the Student Loan Networks advice on how they can make the best financial decision.

The Student Loan Network always advises that when you are deciding on a lender to consolidate your student loans with to make sure you educate yourself on what is necessary to achieve and maintain borrower discounts and rebates that they are offering. If a lender is offering a 1% interest rate reduction after so many on time payments to have the company put the terms in writing for you. Find out and understand all terms, conditions, requirements of your loan consolidation. Not educating yourself on this can cost you thousands of dollars in lost or added payments.

Another way to make an informed decision on which lender to consolidate with is to test the customer service staff. Give the company a quick phone call and pay close attention on how the customer service staff assists you. Also, you can send a short email and see how long it takes for the company to respond to your online inquiry. By performing this research you may find that certain lenders have better customer service than others. Customer service is a major deciding factor when selecting a company to consolidate your loans with.

It is important to have all the information to help you make an informed decision. The loan market is filled with lenders that range from very good companies to those who are inexperienced with the student lending industry to those who are just downright unethical. Remember that you signature of the consolidation application obligates you to the terms of the consolidation loan and that lender. Be certain that you know what is being offered and what you must do to obtain and maintain and benefits and whom you will be dealing with.

The Student Loan Network: Stafford Federal Student Loans, Parent PLUS Loans, Student Loan Consolidation, Private Student Loans, Education Loans/College Loans

• Reduces your monthly payment up to 60%
• Locks in your interest rates - protect yourself from future rate increases
• Simplifies your finances by having you make only one payment a month
• Improves your credit rating
• Saves you money today when you need it most
• Provides flexible repayment options

Federal Consolidation allows you to lock in today’s low rates and to combine several federal student loans to simplify loan repayment. Because repayment can be spread over a longer time period, your monthly payment amount will likely be much lower. With our Student Loan Consolidation program, you can reduce your interest rate by an additional 1.25% with our borrower benefits plan - Click Here for Savings Details.

StudentLoanConsolidator.com StudentATM.com Gradloans.com ActEducationLoans.com

Quincy, MA (PRWEB) May 31, 2006 — With the final auction of the 91-day Treasury Bill on May 30, 2006, federal student loan rates have been set for the new academic year beginning July 1, 2006. The new rates for federal student loans are:

Stafford Loans for students in school: 6.543%, up from 4.70%
Stafford Loans for graduates in repayment: 7.143%, up from 5.30%
Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS): 7.943%, up from 6.10%

These new federal loan rates take effect for existing federal student loans as of July 1, 2006. Borrowers who want to lock in the current rates, which are much lower than the new rates, can do so by consolidating their student loans up until June 30.

“With all of the recent changes in legislation surrounding the federal loan program, there may be some confusion about who this rate increase will affect,” states Jonathan Rudy, Director of Loan Consolidation at www.StudentLoanConsolidator.com. “It comes down to this - if you’re a student or a parent with federal student loans, and you don’t consolidate before June 30, your interest rates are going to increase and you’ll end up paying thousands of dollars more in interest.”

The savings borrowers can expect by consolidating are significant. The average college graduate with $30,000 in federal student loans who consolidates before the deadline, will save more than $6,300 in unnecessary interest - savings that will only occur if borrowers consolidate before June 30.

Should graduates consolidate their student loans? “Yes, absolutely - there’s no question about it,” states Rudy. “With no fees, no credit checks, and cash building borrower benefits, there’s no reason not to consolidate right away. Most importantly, since the new rates are nearly 35% higher, and the time to consolidate at today’s lower rates is nearly gone, borrowers need to act quickly and consolidate their loans today.” Said Rudy.

“When federal student loan rates increased last year, the influx of applications caused major industry wide processing delays - We can’t stress enough how little time is left to apply,” urges Mr. Rudy. “Very often graduates wait until the last minute to file their paperwork and by then, they may not be able to insulate themselves from the rate increase. The earlier you apply, the better off you’ll be.”

Students wishing to file a consolidation application should do so at http://www.StudentLoanConsolidator.com immediately or call (877) 328-1565.

I received an email today from one of our consolidation borrowers, and in the email they asked what the biggest benefit of consolidation was? I thought about this question for awhile and came up with a pretty good response that I would like to share with everyone.

First of all, let’s briefly list the benefits of consolidation, and then we can look at how these benefits relate to borrowers throughout their repayment:

Reduced monthly payment up to 60%
Fixed low interest rate, as low as 3.5%
No penalties for early repayment
Additional 1.25% interest rate reductions for borrower benefits
Improved credit score
simplify finances, single monthly payment
No credit checks, fees, or co-signers needed
Interest is income tax deductible

The important factor to remember is that consolidation will help each borrower in a different way. For example, a recent graduate who is breaking into the job market, looking for an apartment, and financing a car, their biggest benefit from consolidation would be the huge monthly savings. Someone who has been working for several years, and has a fairly good income might benefit the most from the lower fixed interest rate, borrower benefit savings, and non-penalty early repayment. They aren’t so much concerned with barley making their monthly payment, as they are about saving the most money possible and paying off their loan quickly. Looking back at our fist example again; they just found a good job, and can contribute more then the monthly payment, plus they’ve made all their payments on-time for 36 months utilizing automatic checking account withdrawl - so now their interest rate is reduced by an additional 1.25%. When it comes time to purchase a house…their credit has been improved some and their overall finances are in better shape.

So consolidation benefits will help borrowers in different ways, at different stages in their repayment. But overall, the benefits of consolidation are all about saving money and making repayment easier.

Not sure how consolidation can help you? Call and speak with one of our consolidation counselors at 877.328.1565, or visit us at www.studentloanconsolidator.com. Call today to find out what benefits will help make your repayment easier.

… because as of next Friday, you’ll be up a creek without one if you have a two step consolidation. The previous blog post turned out to be a pipe dream. Very sad.

Moral of the story:

Consolidate now. If you have an application from us, return it now.

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