If you’ve decided that consolidating your student loans is the right choice for you, you will next need to pick a debt consolidation company to work with.  There are a plethora of student loan consolidation companies but you must be very careful as to which one you sign on with.  Many companies will actually make it look as though you’ll save a lot of money by utilizing their services when in fact you’d waste time and wind up saving little or nothing at all.  Worse still, you could spend a lot more with them in the long run.  This is precisely why this decision should not be made in haste and you should take your time to pick a good company to work with.

So what exactly should you look for when you’re evaluating which companies you want to work with?  Unsurprisingly, we recommend that you narrow down your choices to ones which have been around a while, are well trusted, and have a proven track record of providing a high level of service.  It is not impossible to have your loan amount reduced by as much as 60% simply by picking the right loan consolidation company.  Three such well reputed companies you may wish to consider are Loan Approval Direct, DebtConsolidation.com, and Next Student.

Loan Approval Direct is one highly regarded company which accepts loan amounts of up to $125,000 without any collateral.  Those who have utlized their services have reported saving as much as 60% each month with interest rates as low as 3%.  DebtConsolidation.com is another great option, especially for those who wish to do the bulk of their research and consolidation online .  They are the parent company of StudentLoanConsolidation.com and they too are a highly rated organization with whom you can save a lot of money each month.  The online application process is relatively simply and you can find out almost immediately if you are eligible for student loan consolidation.  Next Student is yet another well reputed service and is great for those who have consolidated their student loans in the past and are looking to refinance or modify their consolidation strategy.  Be sure to give them a call if you have already graduated or will graduate within the next six months to see what plans they may be able to offer you.

The key thing to bear in mind in your search is to compare multiple companies and carefully evaluate the services they each are offering.  Because everyone’s needs are different, no one service will work for everyone so take the extra time to find the one that’s right for you.  Happy hunting!

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If you are struggling to make your monthly student loan payments, you are not alone. Millions of recent college graduates find it nearly impossible to make even the minimum monthly payments when they have numerous student loans to repay. For many, consolidation is a great way to lower payments and extend the repayment period. Unfortunately it can be difficult to consolidate your student loans if you have had financial problems in the past. Thankfully, though, there are ways to consolidate your student loans even if you have bad credit.

If you were able to get through college with just federal loans, consolidation is a simple process even with bad credit. You will be able to qualify for federal consolidation regardless of your credit score. If you had to take out private loans, though, things can be a bit trickier. Most private student loan consolidations are based on your credit score. Not only will your score determine your interest rate, it will also determine your eligibility. Unfortunately many lenders such as banks and credit unions may not be able to offer you a consolidation loan if your score is too low. There are, however, things you can do to improve your chances of approval.

One of the easiest ways to get a consolidation loan when you have bad credit is to find a co-signer. When you have someone with good or excellent credit co-sign on a consolidation loan, the lender will take their credit score into consideration. It is important to note, however, that if you default on the loan, your co-signer’s credit score will be damaged. If you are unable to find a co-signer with a high credit score, there are simple ways to quickly improve your own credit score. By paying down debt and reducing the number of accounts you owe money on, you can actually boost your score by several points in a very short amount of time.

Even if you are unable to find a co-signer or reduce your debt, you may still be able to consolidate your private student loans with bad credit. Although most traditional banks will be unable to help you, you may be able to find a lender on the internet. In response to the growing number of people with bad credit, more and more online lenders have popped up to help people regardless of their credit situation. Before applying with an online lender, be sure to check with the Better Business Bureau. If you find that they are a legitimate lender, fill out the application carefully. Always be honest about things like your income. It may be a good idea to apply with two or three lenders. Doing so will allow you to compare interest rates and choose the lender that best suits your needs. When obtaining a consolidation loan with bad credit, you should be prepared to pay higher that average interest rates, but you should still try to find the lowest you qualify for. You should not, however, apply with every single bad credit lender you can find. Doing so can actually further reduce your credit score.

Once you have been approved for a student loan consolidation, it is important to repay the loan responsibly. By making your full payment on time each month, you will be able to improve your credit score over time. In time, you may even be able to refinance at a lower interest rate.

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Attending college is a very exciting experience in a young person’s life. Upon graduation, they have a shiny new degree that opens up a whole new world of opportunities. Due to the high cost of education, most students also leave with thousands of dollars worth of debt from student loans. Since the college years are also a very social time, many students also leave college with a new spouse. In this case, there may be twice as much debt to worry about. Starting a new career after college graduation can be a challenge, and beginning a marriage adds additional stress to the situation. When the bills for student loans start rolling in, it can feel like keeping up is nearly impossible. In this situation, student loan consolidation may be a good option.

Although most people know that they can consolidate their own federal and private student loans, they may not know that is it also possible for couples to consolidate loans jointly. This means that instead of each person being responsible for several loan payments each month, they may be able to consolidate all their loans together and make just one monthly payment. There are, however, a few conditions that must be met in order to qualify. Most importantly, couples usually must be legally married. Before applying for joint student loan consolidation, there are a few important things that you should keep in mind. While consolidating your loans will reduce your monthly payments and extend your repayment term, it can cause complications in the future. If you and your spouse ever get divorced, you will each be responsible for half of the loan. In other words, once your loans are combined, you will not be able to separate them based upon the original amount each person owed. If either you or your spouse has significantly more student loan debt, keeping your loans separate may be a better choice.

If you believe that joint consolidation is the right option for you and your spouse, the application process is fairly simple. If you are consolidating federal loans, you will need to contact the Department of Education. This can be done at http://www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov/ . There you will find online application forms as well as contact information if you need to speak with a loan adviser. If you are consolidating private loans, you should start by contacting that original loan providers. If you and your spouse have loans from several different private lenders but you currently have a joint account at another bank, they may be your best choice for jointly consolidating your loans. You will both need to be present to apply. When you meet with a lender, you both should have your identification, social security number, and proof of residency, income, and employment. You may also need to show your marriage license or other proof of marriage. Your loan will be approved or denied based upon both of your credit scores. The interest rate will be determined the same way.

Joint student loan consolidation can be a good way to reduce your monthly burden. Doing so will provide you with more money and time to spend with your new spouse as you work toward building your new life together.

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The months following college graduation typically go by in a blur, and before you know it, your first student loan bills will start coming in the mail. If you, like most students, had to take out numerous loans to cover your education expenses, trying to make all your monthly payments can be a huge burden. For many people in this situation, student loan consolidation is a good option. Consolidating your private student loans is a bit more challenging that consolidating federal loans, but doing so could save you hundreds of dollars each month.

Private student loans, or loans that are not provided by the federal government, can be consolidated by a number of different lenders. When looking to consolidate these loans, your best bet is to start with the bank you originally got your student loans through. Because you already have an established account with them, they are more likely to be able to offer you an attractive consolidation option. Before accepting any particular loan, though, you should always check rates and fees with other banks and lenders. When you are looking for a consolidation loan, you should always have all the necessary information to fill out an application. At minimum you should be able to provide personal information such as proof of residency and monthly income. You will also need to be able to show statements from your current loans. Be sure to read the terms and conditions of a loan carefully before filling out an application.

One of the primary concerns when consolidating your private student loans is the interest rate. Ideally, your consolidated loan should carry a lower interest rate than your individual loans. This is very important because when you consolidate loans, you will have longer to pay. If you are paying the same interest rate on your consolidation, you will end up paying significantly more in the end due to the increased repayment period. You will be able to qualify for the best interest rate if you have good credit or you have a co-signer with a good credit score. Often you will have a choice between a fixed rate loan and a variable rate loan. With a fixed rate, you are guaranteed to pay the same interest rate until the loan is paid in full. With a variable rate, however, your interest rate will change. Often when consolidating student loans you will have the option of paying a very low interest rate in the beginning and paying more near the end of your repayment term. For many recent graduates this is an excellent option because it will allow them to make lower payments while they are trying to start their career. Prior to making a decision, you should carefully weigh out your options and decide which one best fits your budget.

Consolidating your private student loans is a great way to save money. It can also make it much easier for you to keep up track of your finances and avoid lost or missed payments. In addition to reducing your monthly burden, consolidation can also help you protect your credit score and make it easier for you to qualify for financing in the future.

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Graduating from college and embarking on a new career is easily one of the most exciting times in a person’s life. After graduation, it seems as though the options are limitless and you are free to begin living your adult life in the way that you have chosen. Within a few months after graduation day, though, things can become a bit more stressful. Maybe the job market isn’t quite what you had hoped, or maybe entry level jobs in your chosen career don’t pay as well as you had anticipated. Maybe money isn’t the problem, but you’re spending so much time building your career that you don’t have time to keep up with all the bills that keep piling up. In any case, managing your student loans can be a challenge, especially when you have several.

For many recent graduates, the financial burden of repaying student loans is a lot to handle. While college prepares you for a good paying career, it is often difficult to land a good job right after graduation. Sometimes these positions simply aren’t available while other times the entry-level jobs just don’t pay very well. When you have multiple student loans from federal or private lenders, it can be difficult just to keep up. Paying multiple loans can cost you a lot of money and time. Unless you are extremely organized, remembering to pay several different loans each month can be a huge challenge especially when you are working hard to build your career and your life and manage several new responsibilities.

The good news is that repaying your student loans doesn’t have to be a major challenge. There are several options for consolidating both federal and private student loans. By consolidating, you will be able to combine all your loans into one or two larger loans. This means that instead of needing to make several payments each month, you will only need to make two at most. In addition to being much more convenient, consolidating your student loans can also be much more affordable. Typically when you consolidate your payment will be less than the sum of all your previous payments. You may also be able to drastically lower your interest rate. When most students take out loans for the first time, their credit history is very limited. As a result, they do not get the best interest rates. If you used credit responsibly throughout your college years, however, your established good credit score can qualify you for much more attractive interest rates.

Although student loan consolidation is a great way to reduce your monthly financial burden and make repaying your student loans much less stressful, it does require planning and research. This is especially true if you have private student loans because there are countless consolidation plans. Before applying for any type of loan consolidation, always be sure to read all the terms and conditions, and find out exactly what your new monthly obligation will be. With careful planning, consolidating your student loans can put you on the path to having additional time and money each month.

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In simple terms, student loan consolidation refers to taking out one or two large loans to replace all of your smaller loans. At first glance, it may be difficult to understand what makes this option so beneficial, but the benefits are actually numerous. When you consolidate, your monthly payment is almost always less than the sum of the payments you were making in the past. You will be paying less interest, and often you can extend your repayment term. When you have longer to repay your student loans, you will not need to pay as much each month. In addition, consolidated loans are also much more convenient simply because you will no longer be responsible for making as many individual payments each month.

There are seemingly countless lenders that offer student loan consolidation. Choosing the right lender is a difficult but very important process. If all of your student loans are federal, you best bet it to simply use federal consolidation lenders. Doing so is more convenient because these lenders are very familiar with federal loans. They also typically offer lower interest, and they are easier to apply for. If you have private student loans, however, choosing a lender can be more complicated. Private loans should be consolidated through private lenders because federal lenders typically charge high interest rates to consolidate non-federal loans. When trying to choose the best private lender to consolidate your student loans, you will need to take a careful look at their rates and terms. Interest rates can vary greatly from one lender to another, so it is a good idea to take the time to do careful comparisons. When looking at interest rates, it is often wise to choose a loan with a fixed rate. These rates are not impacted by fluctuations in the market, and they ensure that your monthly payment will stay the same.

Just as it is very important to be careful when choosing a loan, it is also very important to carefully choose a lender for student loan consolidation. Choosing the right lender can save you a significant amount of money each month while still allowing you to fulfill your student loan repayment obligations. Choosing the wrong lender, however, can end up costing you money. Always make sure you know exactly how much you will be paying each month before applying. Without this information, you may end up unknowingly applying for a loan you can’t afford the payments on. By taking the time to do careful research, however, you can consolidate your student loans in a way that is very affordable and will ease your monthly financial burden.

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When consolidating all of your student loans into one larger loan, you can save yourself a significant amount of money each month. If, however, you would also like to save money long-term, you will need to be very careful when choosing a lender for student loan consolidation. Most importantly, you need to shop around to find the best interest rate. Thankfully, there are a few simple tips to keep in mind to ensure that you will get the best possible rate. Before you even start shopping for a loan, check your credit score. Make sure there aren’t any false reports. If you find anything that doesn’t look right, contact the credit bureau to try to get it removed. Doing so can boost your credit score and increase your chances of getting an attractive interest rate. You should also calculate the amount you would pay in interest over the life of your current loans and compare that to what you will end up paying over the life of a consolidated loan. You are likely to save the most on interest if you do not use the consolidation as a way to greatly lengthen to repayment term of your loans.

Since interest rates are largely based on your credit score, student loan consolidation may not be the best way to save money on interest if you have bad credit. If, however, you are able to pay off any outstanding debts or work with past creditors to have negative items removed from your credit report, you may be able to drastically improve your credit score. If you are able to put off consolidating your loans until you have improved your score, your chances of getting an affordable interest rate will be much greater. Once you are ready to begin applying for consolidated loans, do not apply for more than a few at a time. When multiple inquiries are made to your credit report in a short period of time, it can actually lower your credit score. By applying for only a few loans, you will actually have a better chance of being approved and locking in an attractive interest rate.

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Before making a conscious decision to consolidate your student loans, you need to have a solid understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of doing so.  While consolidation is generally a good idea and makes life more manageable, it isn’t for everyone.  In this article, we’ll look at both the pros and cons of student loan consolidation and help you make that decision.

Let us start by looking at the benefits of consolidating student loans.  The first advantage, as we’ve discussed in a number of the articles published here at http://www.studentloanconsolidationguide.org, is that consolidation allows you to make a single payment each month at a reduced interest rate.  Instead of managing multiple payments and dealing with several lenders, you deal with only one.  Depending on the terms you negotiate, your monthly payments can also go down.     Consolidation also gives you more flexibility.  It lets you customize your loan to fit your current financial situation in life.  You have the ability to negotiate its length, monthly dollar amount, and other terms.  You can choose to pay it off quickly or stretch it out over a longer period of time.  If you are still in school and accrue more debt, you also have the ability to  add additional amounts to your principal by re-consolidating your loans.  This is another key benefit.  Moreover, federal student loan consolidation is advantageous in that they are no upfront fees or other costs associated with them.

Having discussed the benefits of student loan consolidation, let us now turn to some of the cons.  For starters, you may lose some of the benefits offered by your current lender(s) for your unconsolidated loans.  These include things like penalty protection, rebates, and interest rate discounts.   Next, if you consolidate you could forfeit any grace periods that may have been available to you.  Most student loans will give you a grace period before you have to start making payments but if you consolidate immediately after graduation, for example, this could be lost.  You may want this grace period to find a job first.  Another disadvantage is that even if you consolidate, there is a chance you could wind up paying more in the long run.  Depending on how you negotiate your terms, you could get a reduced interest rate with lower monthly payments but if it is over a much longer period of time, you’ll still pay more in interest.  Lastly, if you consolidate to a lower interest rate you could lose your discharge benefits such that you also lose out on any interest savings.

As with any other major decision, you need to weigh all your options and carefully evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of consolidating your student loans  based on programs you qualify for, current interest rates,  and your present situation.  Don’t make any rash decisions or sign on with the first lender that comes your way.  Be sure to shop around extensively and talk to different lenders to see what type of deals they may be able to offer you.  Good luck and happy hunting!

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Although many students are able to qualify for a variety of scholarships and grants, they typically are not enough to cover the entire cost of a college education. As education costs continue to rise, more and more student find themselves in need of additional funding to help cover all their expenses. Because they are widely available to most anyone who is pursuing a college degree, federal student loans are very common. Although they are easy to obtain, federal loans do have their limitations. Most federal loans only allow the student to borrow a set amount of money even if their expenses are higher. As a result, many individuals end up taking out multiple loans. Doing so can make getting an education possible, but it can also make repayment difficult.

If you had to take out multiple loans in order to pay for your education, you will be responsible for making multiple payments each month. Repaying multiple loans can be a burden for numerous reasons. Paying multiple loans is expensive, and keeping track of multiple due dates is challenging. By consolidating your federal student loans, however, you can greatly reduce the burden.

By consolidating your federal student loans, you are essentially turning several small loans into one larger loan. Often the larger loan has a longer repayment term that makes your monthly payment lower than the sum of the individual payments you were originally responsible for. In addition to being more affordable for most recent graduates, making just one payment is also much more convenient.

Consolidating your federal student loans is simple. In many cases, you may not even need to talk to a loan adviser. If you are able to manage your loans online directly through your lender, you may be able to apply for a consolidation directly from your online account. In this case, there should be a link that says “Manage Your Account” or something similar. If you are unable to apply directly from your online loan account, you can visit http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov/. There you will be able to find additional information including resources to help determine whether or not consolidation is right for you. You will also be able to learn more about additional options including income sensitive consolidation. You can apply for consolidation directly on the website or by calling 1-800-557-7392. This number can also be used to contact the Department of Education in the event that you have any questions or concerns regarding your federal student loans. The website also has a printable form that you can print, fill out, and mail in. Once you have applied, you will be able to check the status of your application here as well.

As with any loan, be sure to carefully read the terms and conditions prior to applying, and ask questions about anything you don’t understand. Before you start filling out your application, it is a good idea to gather all the information you will need. Make sure you have recent statements from all your federal loans. You will also need your Federal Student Aid PIN if you want to sign your documents electronically. If you do not have a PIN, you can apply for one at http://www.pin.ed.gov/.

Thanks to federal consolidation loans, most people are able to consolidate their student loans quickly and easily. In doing so, you can make paying off your debt much more manageable and have more money left over at the end of every month.

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When researching student loan consolidation rates, there are a number of things you need to consider before you decide on a consolidated loan.  These include your consolidated interest rate, repayment terms and other conditions surrounding your consolidated loan, and the reputation of the company you are consolidating with.  Let us look into each of these areas in more detail.

As you may know, student loans are designed such that their interest rates are significantly lower than that of other types of loans.  (This to make it easier for people to get a university education without placing them under a heavy burden to repay those loans in the future).  When evaluating whether a consolidated loan makes sense for you, the first thing you should is determine the exact rate the a loan consolidation company is offering you.  If that rate is lower than the average of the rates you are currently paying, only then may consolidation make sense for you.

The next thing you’ll want to consider are the terms surrounding your repayment plan.  Specifically, you need to look at both the rate and duration of your loan.  A loan consolidation company may, for example, offer what appears to be a great rate (e.g. 5%) but for over a much longer period (e.g. 30 years).  If you are currently paying 8% for a 15 year period, you are much better off sticking with your current plan and paying more now because you’d wind up paying a lot more with the consolidated loan.

Aside from your repayment terms, you’ll also want to carefully go through all the other conditions associated with your consolidation agreement.  As with any other contract, you need to read the fine print.  It may be quite possible, for example, for a lender to offer a very low interest rate for an introductory period but then increase it significantly after a few years.  There may be also be clauses in the contract that cause your rate to skyrocket should you make a late payment.  As such, you’ll want to carefully look into what the introductory period is and what penalties there may be for late payments.  Always ask questions if anything is unclear.

Lastly, be wary of fly by night companies even if they offer what appears to be an excellent rate.  Some may, in fact, be outright scams.  As the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  Our advice is to stick with well known, established, and trusted lenders with a strong track record of happy customers and excellent service.  Good luck and happy hunting!

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