What Will You Gain If You Consolidate Student Loans?

By Charles Gloson

For many students obtaining student loans is as simple as clicking on a web site, filling out a form and waiting for the money to arrive at the university or in your checking account. That's a simple solution to all of their financial woes. They never give a thought to paying back their loans until they get close to graduation day. Then they suddenly realize that six months after graduation they will be paying a large amount in loan repayments every month. At that point, the best solution may be to consolidate school loans.

Did you know that you can choose the plan that suits you best for repaying your school loans, or that you can combine them into a single monthly payment that won't be as high? These are two advantages of loan consolidation for people who can't afford to repay their different school loans. Loan consolidation does not help students who can afford the multiple loan payments.

If you can't make the multiple loan payments now, or you think it will become a problem in the future, then consolidation is for you. There is one thing you must remember. Although the loan consolidation will lower your monthly payments, it will also raise the amount of total interest you will pay by lengthening the amount of time you have to repay the loan.

Students who have turned to private loans face a different situation. Unlike the fixed interest rate on federal loans, private loans have variable interest rates. Most students don't have a high credit rating when they are in college so they end up paying higher interest rates on private loans. If they have been paying monthly payments on a credit card while going to college, their credit rating may have risen considerably, allowing them to get a loan with lower interest. If so, loan consolidation can save them a considerable amount of money.

Another advantage of school loan consolidation for students who have private loans is that they can remove the co-signer from their loans. This relieves the co-signer from any liability if you default on your loan payment. You have to make your regular payments for two to four years before you will be allowed to do this.

Once you decide to consolidate your loans, look for a lender that won't charge you an application fee or for paying off your loan early. Ask the lender what is the maximum amount of interest you will have to pay on the loan, and make a note of how long the loan is for.

When you begin to think about whether or not it would be a good idea to consolidate school loans, remember that each case is different. The only students who actually benefit from loan consolidation are those who have private loans, or those who can't pay several loan payments at the same time. - 29866

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