[roxette]

Why are student loans consolidated?

With the rise in the living expenses, many people are going through the financial troubles in every sphere of life.

Due to the rising costs in higher education, families are stressed having no options left. This results in borrowing money from friends, families and even from money lenders to meet the educational costs.

Student debt consolidation programs have been designed to meet the needs of such students so that they don't have to take financial pressure while building their career.

Student debts are consolidated because they provide the following benefits to the borrowers:

Fixed Interest rate - Consolidation program maintains a lower fixed rate of interest, thus making the repayment process easier. If the borrower consolidates the student loan while being in the school, a difference of 0.6 percentage points can be utilized.

Only One Payment Each Month – consolidation program will allow only one lender with only one monthly bill. This makes the repayment process easier for the borrower instead of managing their debt with different lenders.

Flexible repayment options – there are various plans tailored according to the needs of the borrowers. . These plans are designed to be flexible to meet the different and changing needs of borrowers. Borrowers will also be able to switch their repayment plans in the consolidation program at any time.

Grace period- if a consolidation is done while in the school, consolidation program offers grace period before the repayment begins.

Regards
Roxette

[Rhonda28]

that is good information to know Roxette. A lot of people are not aware of why they should consolidate their student loans. My husband worked for a company in which he did this before the rates went up.

[roxette]

Hi

I feel that consolidating the student debt needs to be done at the right time. This is a decision which should be given prior attention as it relates to the differences in the rates of interest

If you happen to know anyone who is looking for student debt consolidation, you can refer to Debt Consolidation Care.

Regards
Roxette

Can anybody explain what is the right time to consolidate student loans?

[4u.bryan]

You have not mentioned your current financial state and your student loan account details. The right time for consolidation depends upon several factors and it also varies for different situations. You can consolidate your student loan when you are in school. This way you can lock the interest at a lower rate.

You can do it while the loan is within Grace Period. But in both the cases, you'll lose the remaining Grace period.

A student who is already under repayment process can consolidate if he feels that he might miss some installments. It's better to consolidate before the loan is default or.

However; I think the right time to consolidate is 2 to 3 months before the repayment process starts. It takes few days to get the consolidation loan approved and you won't miss the grace period also.

For any more information, please ask your questions in the forums.

[robinayala]

Guest,

You have to see that the loans are not defaulted because default student loans lose some facilities. So if there is any chance of missing timely payments, think of consolidation. Don't let your loan to go to collection.

According to me one should consolidate when they are in school and repayment process hasn't started yet.

[debtstinker]

quick question...I consolidated my husband and my student loans with one company and i'm wondering if it's possible to switch companies with a better interest rate? or once you consolidate with one company are you stuck? thanks all

[SOAPLADY]

Guest,

You have to see that the loans are not defaulted because default student loans lose some facilities. So if there is any chance of missing timely payments, think of consolidation. Don't let your loan to go to collection.

If one is going to miss timely payments, they should be talking to their lender first and apply for a forebearance or deferment. Then look at consolidation.

According to me one should consolidate when they are in school and repayment process hasn't started yet.

You cannot consolidate while in school as of July 1, 2006. You should start the consolidation process during your grace period.

[SOAPLADY]

quick question...I consolidated my husband and my student loans with one company and i'm wondering if it's possible to switch companies with a better interest rate? or once you consolidate with one company are you stuck? thanks all

Unless you have an additional loan to add into the consolidation, the anser is no. Besides, you interest rate will remain the same as federal consolidation interest rates are based on the weighted average of the loans you currently have. There are a lot of lenders who "appear" to offer better rates due to back end perks of interest rate reductions. However, a lot of these lenders are selling off their portfolios and poof!...the perks disappear.

[debtstinker]

Thank you Soaplady, it is so confusing for someone who isn't money savvy to be bombarded with all this information. I get solicitations every day that promise to lower our interest rate and payments for that matter. We are not adding a loan at this time so we will stick with our current company.