Student Loan consolidation question?

5 Comments

1. crzyaltego says:

   February 16, 2010 at 6:18 pm

   usually consolidating is a good idea- i did it to lock in my interest rates and then you only make one payment to one company a month- if you do a good job with payments you earn points off your interest rate- I recommend calling your current loan company and asking about it…..I use Nelnet loans.
2. Erin B says:

   February 17, 2010 at 4:59 pm

   Consolidation is always a good idea, but be ware of some of the companies. Rebates??? I’ve never run across this ever in the 10 years since I’ve started school. A lot of college students have their loans managed by Sallie Mae (as I do) and if you do as well, I suggest you contact them about it.

   There are 2 major bonuses to consolidation:
   1. Lower your repayments! Before consolidation, I was paying back close to $300, but after my payments are only $72!

   2. You lock in an interest rate. If your loans are unconsolidated, your rates are generally not locked in and can change without notice (variable interest rate). If they are consolidated, those rates are locked in as long as you make each payment on time.

   A notice, if you are in school now, only your past loans will be consolidated, not any you are using right now. I waited until I get my BA before I consolidated, but you may be able to start consolidating if you’re in school, you just need to talk to the company about that. Also, each time you consolidate a loan, your locking in the NEW interest rate. For instance, if the rate when you first consolidated was 3% and then you consolidate a new loan into that and the rate is now 5%, all the loans will be at 5%.

   I’ve never used any other loan company, but I do recommend Sallie Mae. They have a great customer service and I’m extremely happy with them. Also, you can pay online with automatic debit so once your in repayment status, you don’t have to worry about missing a payment! I’m sure other companies have that, too.
3. kim says:

   February 20, 2010 at 6:30 pm

   consolidating your loans is a good idea for some and not always others. you must weigh the options. are you still in school? if so have you used your grace period? if not do you want to give that up? if that doesn’t bother you then, what are the intrest rates currently? because they will be the weighted average once they are consolidated rounded up by 1/8 th percent. with intrest rates changing on ffelp loans only once a year that maybe something you want to think about. now if it is a private loan then i do not have much expedience on them see if when you do consolidate if the intrest rate will be fixed. after loan consolidation. now back to the ffelp loans. if you are already in the a repayment status then are you needing you payments lower then that will be helpful there is usually no early repayment penalty if you take a lower payment now. a fixed rate is usually better then not. now the rates have been going up so think about it and talk to your lenders they are willing to help . i hope this helps you.
4. Gani Bady Bhangra says:

   February 22, 2010 at 3:27 pm

   DO YOU LOOK LIKE YOUR AVATAR?

   hmmmmm….*drool…drooooll*
5. Student Loans says:

   February 24, 2010 at 6:56 pm

   Hi there,

   Erin B is absolutely right.. I t makes complete sense to consolidate your student loans mainly in part because it gives you a fixed interest rate on your loans…

   Also by consolidating, it obligates you to a much lower monthly payment which can save you quite a bit of money…

   Now, as for the rebate…. DONT TAKE THE REBATE OPTION!!!

   This is a way for student loan companies to make ALOT of money from every student that consolidates with them…

   Here’s the thing, you choose either a 1% rate reduction for maklin gon time payments, or you choose the rebate… The rebate will be around $500 maybe a little bit more (*depending on amount of loans)

   The 1% discount can save you up to $15,000 in interest over the life of your loan…

   The reason these companies offer the REBATE is that they know money talks.. They know if they tell somoene that they can get $500 for consolidating, that they will want to do it.. What they dont explain in their ad’s is that by taking the rebate, you lose out on the 1% rate discount that can save you thousands of dollars..

   So again, DONT TAKE THE REBATE!!!

   What you really should do is talk to a company that is administered abnd regulated by the department of education… The compaknies that offer the REBATES are solicitation companies.. Their only goal is to get you to work with them so they can make interest off of you…

   My company on the other hand ONLY gives government loans.. So, you can be assured that every laon is giving you the most benefits that you can get…

   I work with Student Aid Lending, we are a natiionwide title IV lender administered by the Departmen tof education…

   I helop students with consilidation loans on a daily basis.. The reason i post on this site is because alot of students have questions similar to yours… Alot of students also get the mailers liek you are receiving that are pushing rebates and ways that THEY can make more money from you…

   I like to some to this site to help college students and graduates become more informed about the options you have and what is the smarterst thing to do with your student loans., If you look at my profile here , you will see tha ti have over a 50% best answer ratio, and if you look at comments, you;ll see i have sucessfully helped many students both consolidate and receive loans to go to college…

   Lastly, i dont know if you realize but consoidation is a very simpel process.. It literally can be handled start to finsih in 10 minutes over the phone and internet..

   When you have a chance, give me a call and i would be happy to break down what i can do for you… From there you can determine what is the best move for you…

   I hope this helps, and will be happy to assist you further..

   Jason Fry
   Student Aid Lending
   800-964-0642 ext 114