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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

An Overview of Student Loan Debt Consolidation

By Angela Rogers


A student loan debt consolidation loan allows you to combine your federal student loans into a single loan with one monthly payment. The repayments of a student loan debt consolidation loan can be significantly lower than the payment required under the standard 10-year repayment option. Under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, banks, secondary markets, credit unions, and other lenders provide the student loan debt consolidation loan. Under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program, the federal government provides the student loan debt consolidation loan.

Most federal education loans are eligible for inclusion in a student loan debt consolidation loan, including subsidized and unsubsidized Direct and FFEL Stafford Loans, SLS, Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Nursing Loans, and Health Education Assistance Loans. However, private education loans are not eligible for inclusion in a student loan debt consolidation loan.

To find out which loans can be included in a student loan debt consolidation loan contact the Direct Loan Origination Center's Consolidation Department if you’re applying for a direct student loan debt consolidation loan. Contact a participating FFEL lender if you’re applying for a FFEL student loan debt consolidation loan.

It is worth noting that you are still eligible for a student loan debt consolidation loan after you graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment. You can also get a student loan debt consolidation loan while you're in school. You must, however, be attending at least half time and have at least one Direct Loan or FFEL in an ‘in-school period’ which generally means that you have been continuously enrolled at least half time since the loan was disbursed. There are a number of conditions that need to be met for you to qualify for a student loan debt consolidation loan, especially if you are delinquent or in default and your loan holder will be able to give you all the necessary information.

If the same holder holds all the FFEL loans you want to consolidate, you must obtain the student loan debt consolidation loan from that holder, unless you haven't been able to get a loan with income-sensitive repayment terms that are acceptable to you. To be eligible for a William D. Ford direct student loan debt consolidation loan, you must have either a direct Stafford subsidized or unsubsidized loan that will be included in the student loan debt consolidation loan or have at least one Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program Stafford subsidized or unsubsidized loan.


The Basics Of Student Loan Debt Consolidation

By Gibran Selman


You can consolidate your federal student loans too, but make sure that you do not consolidate both your federal student loans and private student loans into a single student loan debt consolidation program. Just as other debt consolidation loans, you must make your student loan debt consolidation payments to a single lender, who further disburses to your old creditors.

To go for debt consolidation of your student loans, your minimum balance should be $5,000, and you must either be in the six month grace period after your studies, or are already repaying your student loan.

Before selecting your student loan debt consolidation option, review all the advantages and the disadvantages:

• Through debt consolidation you make your student loan payments to a single lender.

• Depending on the balance of your loan amount, your consolidated student loan has an extended repayment term from 10 to 30 years.

• When negotiating with your bank or financial institutions, ensure that your phased repayment plan allows you to easily meet your monthly payments and have a good credit rating, at the same time.

• The rate of interest for student loan debt consolidation is capped at 8.25 percent for federal student loans.

• Once the rate is fixed you cannot take advantage if the interest rates fall in future.

• There are no fees charged for student loan debt consolidation.

• Once approved, you cannot undo your debt consolidation of your student loans as they have already repaid in full to your previous creditors, and they no longer exist.

You can still obtain debt consolidation for your over due, or unfulfilled, student loans if you negotiate a satisfactory repayment plan with your bank, or debt consolidation lender. Married couples, too, can consolidate their individual student loans together. This is regardless of how much each owns before consolidation, and must now agree to pay the consolidated amount.

Gibran Selman works for CuraDebt, a company providing financial and creditor negotiations, settlement, and arbitration services on behalf of individuals and small businesses.

To get a FREE Debt Analysis Online in Only 30 Seconds, simply go to our website at http://CuraDebtConsolidation.com and fill out our simple application to see if you qualify and to receive a FREE, confidential consultation from an understanding counselor.

Make A Stress Free Start With Student Loan Debt Consolidation

By Gibran Selman


The time to repay a student loan is quite stressful. Student loans debts are like any other debts, and can have significant influence on how you look at your future. You can reduce the burden of student loans by student loan debt consolidation, especially when the rates of interest fall.

Federal student loans have a marked advantage over student loans taken from private sources, such as banks and other financial institutions. Federal student loans are tax deductible, an advantage which other student loans do not have. While going for student loan debt consolidation do not merge federal and private student loans. Consolidate them separately. Consolidating federal student loans when the rates of interest are at a low, will fix your rate for the duration of the loan, which could be anything from 10 to 30 years, depending on the amount of your loan.

Not opting for student loan debt consolidation could lead to a very stressful life in future, as it could lead to your inability to acquire mortgages and car loans, in addition to credit cards, and other kinds of credit, depending. The advantage of opting for student loan debt consolidation is that you need to make a single repayment each month, just as you would for other debt consolidation loans.

Student loan debt consolidation is best done when you are in the six month grace period after your graduation. This is so because the fixed rate interest for student loan debt consolidation uses the in-school low interest rate for its estimation. You can also go for debt consolidation of student loans when you are still making your monthly payments.

There you are – think hard and decide when to wish to go for debt consolidation of your student loans for stress free future.

Gibran Selman works for CuraDebt, a company providing financial and creditor negotiations, settlement, and arbitration services on behalf of individuals and small businesses.

To get a FREE Debt Analysis Online in Only 30 Seconds, simply go to our website at http://CuraDebtConsolidation.com and fill out our simple application to see if you qualify and to receive a FREE, confidential consultation from an understanding counselor.