School Loan Consolidation

Discover Information You Can Use To Eliminate Your School Loans Faster Through Consolidation

What is a School Loan Consolidation?

A school loan consolidation is when you take multiple loans and combine them into one single loan with a single lender.  This can create an easier and faster way to keep track of and payoff your student loans.

How to Determine Whether You Should Consolidate?

If you are looking to consolidate I would always take in to account how it will affect your particular circumstances.  Another factor you should consider is what type of loan consolidation you will try to put together.  Will the loan have a fixed or a variable rate? How long will the loan be for, and what are the penalties if you try to pay it off early.  Keep in mind that when you are consolidating you may actually be lengthening the life of the loan so you could end up paying more over time.  The interest paid on school loans are tax deductable.

Federal vs. Private Loan

You can only consolidate your federal loans if you are not attending school.  If you have a loan that dates after July 1, 2006, the rates have been fixed around 6.8%, so if you consolidate your rate it would be roughly around that percentage. However, if you had a variable rate loan before that date you may be able to greatly reduce your interest rate. Once a lower rate is established those rates will be locked in until the end of the loan.

There is usually a grace period of six or seven months after you graduate which is the best time to possibly get a lower rate on your consolidation. Keep in mind that once you consolidate the repayment period starts immediately.    

If you now have a higher credit score you may be able to lower your monthly payment on your private loan or you can co-sign with someone who has excellent credit.  Also talk to your original lender because they could work on a consolidation plan and see which rates are best for you.

Private loans cannot be consolidated with Federal loans, you can however consolidate a bunch of private loans you may have out there. You could consolidate Federal loans into private ones, but there are many risks involved that need to be considered. First you would lose all federal rights including affordable repayment rights, deferment, cancellation provisions and forbearance (also called leniency).   

Make sure you do your research on private loans before making a decision. Don’t pick the first company you find on the internet because there is nothing that would prevent a private lender from offering you a lower interest rate. The best thing you can do for yourself is to have all your ducks all in a row now that you have graduated from college and are on your way to becoming a successful individual.

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