Consolidating Your Government Student Loans


A Consolidation Loan allows you to combine your federal student loans into a single loan with one monthly payment, which 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 Consolidation Loans. Under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program, the federal government provides the loans

Most federal education loans are eligible for consolidation, including subsidized and unsubsidized Direct and FFEL Stafford Loans, SLS, Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Nursing Loans, and Health Education Assistance Loans. Private education loans are not eligible. PLUS Loan borrowers (parent borrowers) also can consolidate their loans.

To apply for a Direct Loan Consolidation or an FFEL Consolidation the borrower must contact the lender and complete an application. Most lenders provide borrowers with the ability to apply on-line or request an application over the telephone. Once an application is completed and submitted, the lender will request information from the borrower's other lenders or from its own system to determine the amounts outstanding on the borrowers loans. The borrower will then receive notification about the consolidation loan, normal consumer disclosures, the amount owed, and if appropriate, where to make payments

Always Consider the Cost

You should keep in mind that although consolidation can simplify loan repayment and lower your monthly payment, it also can significantly increase the total cost of repaying your loans. Consolidation offers lower monthly payments by giving borrowers up to 30 years to repay their loans. So, you'll make more payments and pay more in interest. In fact, in some situations consolidation can double your total interest expense. If you don't need monthly payment relief, you should compare the cost of repaying your unconsolidated loans against the cost of repaying a consolidation loan. You also should take into account the impact of losing any borrower benefits offered under non-consolidated repayment plans. Borrower benefits, which may include interest rate discounts, principal rebates, or some loan cancellation benefits can significantly reduce the cost of repaying your loans.

For Part II of this article please visit:http://www.american-lenders.org/goverment_student_loan


More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Debt Consolidation Information:

Related Articles

Money Problems?
You're not alone. Many people face a financial crisis some time in their lives.
Is There Something Called a Bad Credit Credit Card?
Is there something out there called a bad credit credit card? Well, when a bank or Credit company such as Bank of America, Washington Mutual or Chase receive an application from you, they use a statistical system to determine whether or not to grant credit to you by assigning numerical scores to various characteristics related to creditworthiness. This means the creditor's measure of your past and future ability and willingness to repay your debts.
Burdened with Debt?
Too many debts? Having trouble paying your bills? Are you worried about losing your home or your car?You're not alone. Many people face a financial crisis some time in their lives.
Debt Consolidation Solution
Debt Consolidation is a solution that solves your debts. Debt is a financial hazard.
Debt Consolidation - How to Protect Your Credit Accounts from Theft
Last week, a security exploit at CardSystems Solutions, Inc, a credit card processor, may have allowed thieves to obtain as many as 40 million credit card numbers from unsuspecting victims. The theft was brought about though a virus introduced into the CardSystems that allowed external hackers to obtain access to the account information.
Debt Consolidation Mortgage: Home Solutions for Integrating Arrears
Credit card debts, auto loans debts, secured loans debts, unsecured loans debts - debts of all sorts and types registered against your name. It is hardly a very promising situation.
Private Student Loans - Dispelling The Myths
Private Student Loans - dispelling the mythsIf savings, grants, scholarships, and federal loans don't cover the cost of your education, it's time to turn to private loans. But young college students can't qualify for a private loan, can they? Wrong! This article addresses this and other myths about student loans that you may run into.
Debt Management - How a Debt Consolidator Can Reduce Your Debt
A Debt consolidation program starts with evaluating your financial situation. This process involves an in depth analysis of your financial standing.
Going Debt Consolidation Way!
We are aware of the fact that it is easy to get into debts, but on the contrary overcoming it is very complicated. Now give an end to your fear of lenders as more and more companies in the UK are offering solutions to tackle debts of individuals- both home owners and tenants.
How To Get Rid Of Debt Problems Step 3 -- How To Negotiate Reduced Payments With Creditors
First, make a list of your creditors (NOTE: you should only attempt to re-negotiatepayments on your UNSECURED debts if you wish to avoid the riskthat an item upon which a debt is secured could be re-possessed)Add to this list the outstanding balance owed to each creditor.It is essential that you are accurate with this balance.
Debt Consolidation: Reduce Your Monthly Debt Payments Now
Debt consolidation is frequently becoming a very familiar term used in these consumer frenzy-spending times when everything that is available to purchase is often presented with the availability of a hire purchase agreement.While the goods that we want are made more easily available for us to purchase this way, we should also be aware of the financial situation that this can place us in if taken to an extreme degree.
No-Cost Student Loan Consolidation
No-Cost Student Loan ConsolidationA no-cost student loan consolidation - doesn't that just sound too good to be true? Think about it. You have just accrued thousands of dollars in debt through student loans after 4 years of college, or possibly even more.
Debt Elimination: Legal! Lawful! Ethical! Debt Elimination Really Works
You are trying hard to eliminate your loans but keep falling back on your old ways. This constantly leads you back to square one situation and debts seem like they are ever increasing.
Vultures and Victims
Has anyone noticed how many loan companies now fill up the commercial breaks? Sofa, after of sofa of happy couples are shown, with carefully manipulated stereotypes discussing the consolidation of their finances, recommending a particular provider. Couples, who have had loan requests knocked back from the standard, high street or traditional credit lenders, find themselves turning to alternative finance providers in the hope that they can move their debt situations forward.
Debt Consolidation -- Choose Your Credit Counselor Carefully
Recently passed by Congress, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 will require people who are filing for bankruptcy to first undergo mandatory credit counseling.This is probably not a bad idea; after all, many people with problem debt could probably benefit from credit counseling.
7 Ways to Consolidate Your Debt
If you are in debt, you have several options available to you in your quest to consolidate your balances and thereby reducing your monthly payments or paying off your loan faster. Let's look at 7 of the most popular and effective ways for you to consolidate your debt.
Why Choose a Debt Consolidation Loan?
Are you wondering why choose a debt consolidation loan? If you are one of the many people who continually struggle to cope with an ever increasing amount of debt the solution could well be within your reach.Are you feeling overburdened with debt? Are you paying out too much every month for your credit cards, store cards and loans? Then why not replace them all with one, lower, convenient repayment through a consolidation loan?If your are looking to:reduce interest rateslower your monthly paymentsavoid bankruptcyconsolidate your billshave one monthly paymentor simply get out of debt the fastest way possiblethen a debt consolidation loan could provide the answer.
Alternatives to Filing Bankruptcy
Deciding to file for bankruptcy is a decision that should not be taken lightly. Too many people opt for this decision before finding out what other alternatives are available to them.
Consolidate Your Credit Card Debt
With the popularity of plastic money in the present age, credit cards are gaining immense importance. With the growing increase in usage of such cards the credit rates are also reaching the horizon.
Debt Consolidation Service In Birmingham
Jane was a fun loving girl from Birmingham, you could say she lived for today. She wanted all the latest fashions and gadgets and certianly was not afraid to use her credit card to pay for them.