Understanding Direct Student Loan Consolidation

By Charles Gloson

Everyone knows that a good college education is almost essential to be able to find worthwhile constructive employment. Today, the cost of education is very expensive; almost every student will require to take out a number of student loans so as to cover the costs. After graduating it can be difficult at first to be able to meet the repayments of these loans as not all individuals will be able to get a high paying job immediately. To help overcome this problem it is possible to take a direct student loan consolidation.

This is a service that offers a solution in which you are given a new loan that is more manageable. It helps to alleviate any stress and worry involved with student debt. Also it improves the credit rating of the graduate thereby allowing them access to other financial services.

The program has been set up and is administered by the Department of Education. As it is a federal government scheme you can be assured of professional treatment at all times.

In essence the federal government recalculates all the individual student loans that you have taken into one loan that is easy to understand and repay. It has a fixed interest rate for the full term which is worked out by the average of all the individual loans that you had. There is a limit on this rate which is currently set at 8. 25%. It is much easier to keep track of your dues and payments using this method.

Another positive aspect is that the period for paying the loan back is often longer in duration than your previous loans. It can be anywhere up to thirty years. To be eligible for this service you must have at least one direct student loan that currently needs to be repaid. You can even amalgamate loans that have been defaulted on. Also there is no minimum fixed amount that you need to owe so as to qualify.

Presently there are four repayment plan options. It is up to you to choose which best suit your situation and requirements:

1. Standard Repayment Plan: If you choose this option your monthly repayments will be a minimum of $50 per calendar month for between ten to thirty years.

2. Graduated Repayment Plan: This is different than the standard option in that the monthly repayments have to be at least equal to the interest accrued. To start with the amount can be low and it will be re-evaluated every 2 years.

3. Extended Repayment Plan: To qualify for this particular plan the debt you hold has to be larger than $30, 000. You are given a period of twenty five years to make full repayment.

4. Income Contingent Repayment Plan: Here, the monthly repayments are calculated on the graduates income, loan balance, and family size. - 29866

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here