How to Consolidate All Those Student Loans

Once you have graduated from college you may be one of the lucky people eligible to consolidate all of your student loans. Now, it is very important to carefully consider this option, since it is only available for you to do once. It is not a good idea to consolidate your loans with your spouse's because then if you pass away, your estate is not responsible for the student loans. However if they are consolidated with your spouse, they will still need to pay them back. Just so that you know, this benefit is only for federal student loans. So here is how to consolidate all of those student loans.
1. First and foremost you need to make sure that you qualify for the student loan consolidation. For starters you need to have finished school, furthermore you can't currently be enrolled in any program and you need to determine which loans qualify. Moreover you will then have the opportunity to consolidate your subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans.

Sallie Mae Offers Tuition Insurance: Buyer Beware!

Sallie Mae has recently added a tuition insurance plan to students and parents. The plan is offered in partnership with Next Generation Insurance Group. According to the NY Times, however, the plan reimburses at different rates for physical and mental health withdrawals from school.
While physical causes for withdrawal result in 100% tuition reimbursement, mental health withdrawals from school are only reimbursed at 75%, and often require a multiple day hospital stay. The irony is that mental health issues are most likely to be the reason a student will have to withdraw from school.
There are some underwriters who offer equal coverage for physical and mental illness withdrawal but Sallie Mae chose to partner with a provider who insists on disparate treatment

Best Approaches of Finding Pell Grants With Ease

What are Pell grants? These are need based financial aids meant for students who have not yet achieved bachelor's degrees. The best thing about them is that, there is no need to repay them once they have been granted to you. This is unlike most other student loans. While this is the case, students who have families that are not financially stable can easily get this funding to further their college education. Everyone is eligible for this funding regardless of the age bracket.
However, you must have a financial need backup for you to qualify for Pell grants. Having said this, here are the strategies of finding these funding with ease.
• The foremost thing you need to do is to ensure that you have gathered all the financial credentials from the preceding years and arrange them in an orderly manner. If your parents are still alive, gather their tax return as well as W2 forms. However, if you are living by yourself, you will be required to present your own tax return and the W2 forms as well. In case you own a car, your driver's license will be required along with current bank declarations.

How to Clear College Debt Free

Save for a lucky few who are well off, most students need loans to get through college. The cost of getting a degree has gone up considerably and with additional expenses like accommodation and food, it is very easy for a student to get themselves in financial trouble after clearing college due to debts accrued over the years. There are a ways to avoid these post college debts. Some are highlighted below.
Advanced Placement Classes
Credit transfer is a provision of the education system that many students do not take advantage of. Credit transfer involves taking some of the courses offered in college in high school then transferring the grades to your college transcript. This ensures that you do not have to do this units in college. The advantage of doing them in high school is that once in college,the student is under less pressure and most importantly, enables them to save on costs as high schools offer less rates per unit taken as well as free learning materials. If you manage to do some units before you get in to college, you will reduce the tuition costs of college thus avoid some post college debts.

No Cosigner Student Loans - How to Get A Bad Credit Student Loan

There's no doubt about it that it is costing even more money to get a good education. College fees are rising each year and places are becoming harder to obtain. This is made all the worse if you cannot afford to pay the fees for yourself and don't have the financial support from parents or family. When this is the case, many students look at finding no cosigner student loans to give them some support when they need it.
No cosigner student loans are certainly not as easy to get as standard types of loans. This doesn't mean they are impossible to obtain, it just means you need to know where to look. The government is one of the best places to find these types of loans. They offer federal assistance in the form of loans that don't require a co signer.
Another great benefit of government loans is they don't check your credit history. So if you have managed to get bad credit already, this won't be taken into account when they decide whether to offer you financial assistance or not. They won't even check your history as they don't have the same strict rules as private lenders. So this is a major help too.
The reason the government offers these loans is because they fully understand the importance of a good education. They will do all they can to help students get the best education they can. So several schemes have been set up to help with this. Quite of these schemes will even let you go through college before you have to pay back a single penny too. You can graduate and won't have to pay anything until you are in employment

How and Why Benefit From Graduate Grants?

The current living standards are making many students experience many challenges as they try to raise their schooling fees. These have turned to grants and loans to help them finance their education. Graduate grants are not hard to get if one follows the right technique in writing their essays. You should also ensure the information you enter in the application form is correct.
The application form can be gotten from various government resources and colleges. The most beneficial thing about graduate grants is that it can still be applied and granted to people wishing to complete their graduate school via online programs. These can apply for the grants to help them cater for their schooling expenses. As such, the loans will not have to be paid although one should abide by the set norms in the guidelines for the grants. Nevertheless, there are things you need to have in mind as you strive to get the grants.
What to remember?
• In writing the essay and filling the application form, one can consult the college counselor. He or she will be in a better position to guide you in giving the required details in the right way. They will also guide you in going through the submission process so that you can have your form approved faster than if you chose to do it all by yourself.

The Three Main Benefits Of Acquiring A Student Loan

With the economy as it is today, it's vital that you get a college education to giver yourself the opportunity to find a decent job and to at least try to get the necessary foundation that is required to get a high paying job within your chosen industry. It's no longer a luxury to have a college education, it is more of a necessity, and that's why exploring all your available option for student loans is important.
Below, I've outlined three of the main benefits for acquiring a student loan.
1) College Education Is Guaranteed
When seeking your college education and you've not received an academic full ride scholarship, the task of paying for college can seem daunting. That's why it's important that you explore all your available options. Such options as student loans. One of the main benefits to receiving a student loan is knowing that your education is fully guaranteed and paid for. With your tuition fully paid your only task is to ensure that you study and pass the course work to ensure that you graduate.

How to Manage Multiple Student Loans

Nowadays, it is not uncommon for college students to apply for multiple student loans to finance their studies. With clear financial records and purpose, any student should be able to get the education loans they need. Problems with multiple student loans perhaps will arise as soon as the borrower (either students or their parents) have to repay what they have borrowed. Various amounts of loans with various interest rates as well as various repayment terms are not easy to manage and it is easy to get mixed up between them. Additionally, when a student comes across financial hardships following his/her graduation, repaying the loans can be a tremendous burden.
To solve these problems, you can apply for a student debt consolidation loan which combines all your borrowed funds. By consolidating your various loans, you will only have to pay to one lender each month. Besides, you will also get other benefits such as a fixed interest rate and longer repayment period. The rate is actually the weighted average of the interest rates of all the loans. Since the rate is rounded up to the nearest 1/8 of a percent, you might end up with a slightly lower or higher interest rate. The repayment term, on the other hand, ranges from 10 to 30 years depending on the total amount of the loan and other considerations that will save you up to 50% payment per month.
Generally, most federal student financial aids such as FFELP (Stafford, PLUS, and SLS), NSL, FISL, HEAL, Perkins, Guaranteed Student Loans, Health Professional Student Loans, and Direct loans can all be consolidated into one loan. If you have private student loans, however, consult your lender about the possibility of consolidation since several lenders also provide private consolidation loans. Lenders that provide such service include Student Loan Network, Chase, Wells Fargo, and NextStudent.

Student Debt Consolidation Loan - What You Need to Know

The good thing about fixed rate student loans is that students only need to pay to one lender and the repayment period is longer. This can be achieved by consolidating their existing educational loans. However, debt consolidation also has its share of disadvantages. It is indeed beneficial, but it is not suitable for everyone.
Suppose you have four federal loans and one private loan. Once you have graduated, you are obliged to repay all of the funds you borrow. Indeed, repaying them is not as easy as applying for them. But if you can afford to repay all of your debts with no difficulty, then you do not need to apply for loan consolidation. However, if you are not financially strong, student debt consolidation loan may just be the ideal solution for you

College Admissions Guide for Students and Families

Students and parents alike often find the college admissions process inordinately stressful. This does not need to be the case. The following tips are simple yet essential guidelines for completing the type of college applications that will lead to admission to the college of your choice. All recommendations are based on over a decade of experience in college preparation and application assistance. Each section should be addressed by students in the order presented. Parents may consider hiring a college application professional to assist their children in completing all elements included in this article to improve chances for admission and reduce stress.

• Work with your guidance counselor throughout your high school experience to ensure that you enroll in courses that fulfill your graduation requirements and align with your interests.
• Enroll in Advanced Placement courses in subject areas that you are interested and successful in, as the completion of each course and passing its accompanying test will lead to college credit.
• Take standardized tests in your junior year. The SAT and the ACT are the most commonly accepted examinations

Pros and Cons Of Fixed Rate Student Loans

Not many students know how to apply for a fixed rate loan and the pros and cons of it. Fixed rate student loans have several advantages as well as disadvantages. As the name suggests, one of the good things about it is that borrowers do not have to worry about fluctuating interest rates. But before you apply for a loan, you have to know what you are getting yourself into.
Fixed rate student loans are can be attained by consolidating several student loans into one master loan. By consolidating your educational loans, you will get to repay all the money you have borrowed with one flat interest rate to only one lender. This is indeed very simple since you do not have to go through the trouble of repaying the loans individually to various lenders. Yet the fixed interest rate given by the consolidation may backfire since you can end up with a slightly higher interest rate. This is because the average interest rate of the consolidated loans is rounded up to the nearest 1/8 of a percent (0.125, 0.25, 0.375, 0.5, and so forth). The lowest interest rate of a consolidation loan is 4.70%, while the highest rate would be 8.25% for Stafford loans and 9% for PLUS loans.

Help! I Need to Start Saving for My Kid's College Education

It's the American Dream. To have your kids grow up and go to college. To graduate from a university. To have earned the right to have those little letters after your name BA or BS. To know that your child is on the right track. The he or she has the world at their feet. Opportunity is abound. Oh what a joy as a parent to know that you did as much as you could to help them get to this moment. You helped with their homework. You drove them to their after school activities. Bought their clothes, cheered at their games. Just one little thing you forgot, HOW AM I GONNA PAY FOR THIS??
It is true that college is part of the American Dream. Not only is it part of the dream, it's a necessity. College graduates earn more over their lifetime on average than those that did not attend college. In today's economy your child will need every advantage he or she can get to help them find a good paying job, if they're lucky they will even be offered benefits. Probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, obstacles they will have to face is paying for college. Let's face it, college costs a lot of money. According to Regional average data: College Board "Trends in College Pricing" 2010 in 20 years the cost to attend a public regional commuter college, in 2030, will be $53,023.00. The following year it will go up to $55,674.00. The year after that is will be $58,457.00 and $61,380.00 the year after that. The cost for a 4 year college education for someone attending a regional college in 2030 - 2034 will be $238,534.00.
Right now in Chicago you can buy a nice 3 bedroom ranch style house for under $200,000.00. You'll be paying more for your child's education than you just paid for your house. It's time to think about saving for college.

5 Tips for Minimizing School Loan Debt

Attending a college or university is often an expensive venture due to the high cost of tuition, books, dorms, food and other added fees. The problem with the high expense is that many students end up taking out large student loans to pay for all of the costs. After getting out of college, the debt lingers and is often challenging to pay off completely. Fortunately, it is possible to minimize your school loan debts.
Scholarships and Grants:
Scholarships and grants should always be one of the first steps to paying for your college expenses. Since scholarships and grants are free money that you can use for your degree, you will never need to pay it back. Scholarships and grants are available through the school, from private companies and from private organizations. They have specific requirements, such as a specific field of study or a specific GPA, but if you receive the money it will save on the amount of debt you take out.

Student Loan Bankruptcies May Be Hard Cases

Often people get swept so far into debt for any number of reasons - reasons sometimes not entirely the fault of the consumer - bankruptcy is the only way out. The promise of a fresh financial start for a debt-burdened consumer is very enticing. Though this may be true, discharging a bankruptcy puts a big smudge on a credit history and it stays there for a long time.
Student Loan Bankruptcies Need to Be Considered
One should consult with an attorney specializing in such matters or a personal finances counselor before declaring bankruptcy. All debts should be considered - including student loans - because, while some debts can fall under the bankruptcy axe, there are those that will not. And student loans taken before the bankruptcy may be among them. Upon examining the total range of credit obligations, it may be that practically all of them are exempt from bankruptcy discharge. If that is the case, it may not be prudent to declare bankruptcy at all.
Getting the Axe with Student Loan Bankruptcies
A wide variety of debts that have gone bad cannot be discharged or eliminated simply by making a declaration of bankruptcy. Some examples include obligations for child support, government taxes, any fines or fees associated with criminal activities including driving while intoxicated, and there are other debts that may not be discharged according to the laws of the various states. Special consideration should be given to these kind of loans. Many of them, especially those that are backed by government plans, cannot be discharged.

Save Money By Consolidating Student Loans

Students who are facing a challenge to pay for their education find a good financial aid in the form of student loans. A majority of students have to leave their college with a huge debt burden quite unfortunately. Apart from this, most of these students have to write multiple checks for their loan repayment each month as they are often obtained through various lenders. Consolidation is certainly a good solution to their problem.
Loan consolidation - What is it actually?
Loan consolidation is about adding all your student loans into one so that you have a single repayment plan and a single lender. Home mortgage refinancing and student loan consolidation are quite similar to each other. During consolidation, your current balances are met while the total balance rolls over to the consolidated loan. Thus, all you need to deal now is just a single student loan. Besides students their parents may also get their loans consolidated.

Student Loans Without A Cosigner - What If The Federal Loan Is Not Sufficient?

Education is a very costly enterprise and many families find it very difficult to send a child to college, however much the young person wants to study and get ahead in life. The situation is particularly bad these days because of the worsening economic situation that has seen people's wealth eroding. The Federal government offers a variety of loans to deserving students who cannot manage to pay for education on their own. Federal student loans without a cosigner are usually offered at very low rates of interest and they also have very easy repayment terms. A person doesn't even require presenting a credit report in order to avail of these loans

Some Pointers On Landing a Bad Credit Student Loan

Bad credit will be a challenge as you seek funding for advancing your education, but a plethora of options are available to get a bad credit student loan. Bad credit should not keep you from reaching your goal. Your first point of contact should be the financial aid office at your school. The people there can guide you to find whatever financial assistance may be within your grasp.
Free Money with Scholarships and Grants
You may be eligible for a scholarship or a grant without knowing it. Scour the financial aid office for these resources. It may only be $500 here and $100 there, but it is free money. You do not have to pay it back. It is one way America invests in the future of its young citizens. You just need to put in the research to get it. Diligent research and filling out tiresome forms are what it takes to earn this free money.
FAFSA Is an Important Step
An important step is filling out the Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This is a sort of catch-all application form that federal counselors will cross reference against a database of federal student aid programs. Using it should not prevent your own research. Submit applications to everything and anything that could possibly benefit you financially. Do not get discouraged. You may also want to check out any work-study programs your school may offer.

Why Many People Choose Private College Loans Over Government Loans

Government backed student loans certainly have their merits because they enable a lot of people to pay their way through college. However most people find that private student loans are generally more beneficial, for various different reasons.
First of all there is the fact that private student loans can be for a much larger amount, which is a major bonus. They are also very convenient because you can apply for them at any time of the school year and the actual amount of the loan will be sent to you directly instead of the university where you will be studying.
You will surely have noticed that the cost of going to college continues to rise every year. So it pays to have easy access to some much needed funds during your four year stay. Federal loans are often a lot smaller and only tend to cover some of the costs that you will face during your time at college. It is the parents that often need to fork out the rest, but with a private loan you can get the money you need because you should have no problems paying this extra amount back once you graduate and get a well paid job at the end of it.