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Student consolidation loans are among the most popular refinancing loans as they make repayment of the education loans easier to handle. Those loans are in high demand because they offer important benefits. Some of those benefits are available with both federal and private student consolidations, but some come only with the federal consolidations.It’s important to know that private education loans can’t be consolidated into federal consolidation loan, but there are private lenders – not too many, though – that offer private consolidation of those private student loans.Private consolidation loans can include federal education loans, however, including those federal loans in a private consolidation loan is usually not desirable for a number of reasons. For instance, with private consolidation, you will lose important, generous benefits of the federal loans, such as flexible repayment terms and loan forgiveness and cancellation provisions. Private consolidation will often increase your effective interest rate and you will pay much more to serve your education debt – even though you’ll get lower monthly payments.For those reasons, it’s recommended to seek federal consolidation loan first and only if you can’t get one, look for a private consolidation.However, private lenders aren’t recently willing to consolidate student loans as they were some years ago. For two main reasons – first, the global credit crisis and second, the law passed recently by the Congress that significantly reduced the subsidies for providing education loans (including student consolidation loans).The recent credit crunch debacle made the private lenders tighten their lending standards for the prospective borrowers applying for the student consolidation loans. The applicants need now higher credit scores and higher income. By the way, checking those is another important difference between federal and private consolidations. You will not be subject to any credit check and income-level test when asking for a federal student consolidation loan. On the other hand, it’s an important part of the private consolidation process – your credit rating will have significant impact on the interest rate you’ll get. Therefore, it determines the total amount you’ll have to repay when you take the consolidation loan.According to credit business sources, in order to be eligible for a private student consolidation loan and get an interest rate that will make the consolidation worthwhile, you will need a FICO credit score of 700 – at least 50 points higher than it was just a few years ago. Moreover, the private lenders require now your debt-to-income ratio to be much lower than 50%.So what should you do if you really need to consolidate your student loans see the private consolidation loan as your only chance? Well, in order to improve your chance of getting one, you could use a co-signer, for example your parents, or somebody who has good credit rating.Finally, it’s important to mention here some drawbacks that the borrowers who take student consolidation loans face.First of all, if your main reason for seeking consolidation is to lower your monthly payments, you have to remember that while your monthly payments will be lower (sometimes by as much as 50%) and your finances will be simpler because you’ll have only one monthly payment, it will all come at higher cost. Why? Because you will have to be stuck with the loan for longer period of time, as the lower payments require longer repayment and the total amount of the interest paid will be higher.Here are some other issues to remember. If you take the consolidation loan, your grace period will often be shortened and you may also lose loan discounts provided by the originating lenders. Also, you may have to repay a fee waiver or rebate that you got from those lenders. And, if you have a Perkins loan, usually it is better to leave it alone and not consolidate it as Perkins loans have important benefits not found in other loans and they would be lost in consolidation.

Student Loan Consolidation July 1 Interest Rate Hike Nears

The federal student loan consolidation program is heading down a path leading to interest rate increases. On July 1, 2006 interest rates are expected to increase and fixed rates no longer will be available.

With the changes set to occur in approximately two months it is important for college students to consolidate prior to the July 1 deadline. Following that date, the lives of student borrowers throughout the country easily could take a turn for the worse. With all the expected negative changes, students could find it impossible to consolidate their loans after July 1. By taking action now, student borrowers will save a lot of money in interest – money that could be used for more important things in their lives.

Instead of paying for rent and the necessities of life after graduation, borrowers who do not consolidate their student loans could find themselves with extremely high monthly student loan payments, not to mention thousands more in interest than is necessary.

Student Loan Consolidation Can Save Thousands

However, by consolidating student loans before July 1, borrowers can lock in a lower, much more reasonable rate, which, over time, will save thousands. The lower monthly payment also will enable student borrowers to breathe easier knowing they have extra cash to put toward other everyday needs.

With current (http://www.nextstudent.com/consolidationloans/consolidationloans.asp) student loan consolidation borrowers who still are in school can receive a 4.75 percent interest rate that will be in effect for the life of the loan if the process is complete before July 1. A 2.75 percent interest rate now is available to eligible borrowers. This low rate includes applied benefits that typically feature the use of Auto Debit and incentives for making 36 consecutive on-time payments.

Student Loan Consolidation Makes Life Easier

When college students graduate they oftentimes are left with numerous student loan bills of differing amounts all with high interest rates. After adding everything up, most students find they have exorbitant monthly student loan bills. With the high price of college, the interest rates on loans make things worse, especially for borrowers who do not consolidate their student loans. Those borrowers should take into consideration that they can (http://www.nextstudent.com/) consolidate student loans while in school or after they graduate.

The last thing students need after graduation is a pile of student loan bills to pay. Following graduation students have to find a job and a place to live. Along with rent and other everyday expenses, numerous student loan bills with high interest rates will make things worse. Student loan consolidation will bundle together all of a student’s loans into one easy payment, which makes life simpler. In effect, it also will save thousands over the years.

NextStudent believes that getting an education is the best investment you can make, and it is dedicated to helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding as easy as possible. Learn more about (http://www.nextstudent.com/) Student Loans at http://www.nextstudent.com/.

If you are an American student or one studying in an American school, then you are eligible for federal student loan consolidation from the U.S government.
Federal student loan consolidation plans are applicable for all students whether you are still in school or a recent graduate or already into your new career.
If you are successful in your student loan consolidation application, it will help you to reduce the student loan payment amount each month and/or allows you more time to pay off your student loans.
If you currently have several student loans, it is easier if you use federal student loan consolidation to consolidate them into one loan payment thus making it easier to manage.
The Four Types Of Federal Student Loan Consolidation
The U.S government in a bid to attract more students to take up their student consolidation loans have come up with four plans to suit the different needs of students.
They are :
* Standard Student Loan Consolidation
The maximum student loan period is 10 years and the payment amount per month is fixed. This type of plan is suitable for students who can afford to pay a fixed amount per month. The interest rate would not be a big factor in huge student consolidation loans
* Extended Payment Plan
This type of plan is similar to standard student loan consolidation except it has a longer repayment period of between 15 to 30 years. The repayment period is dependent on the student loan amount.
* Graduated Payment Plan
This type of plan is suitable for students still schooling and can only repay the student loan when they have a job after they graduated. The payment period is between 15 to 30 years. The payment amount per month usually starts low and increase steadily every 2 years. The intent is the as the student has worked for a longer period of time, their salary will increase accordingly and thus able to pay a larger repayment student loan.
* Income Contingent Payment Plan
This type of plan is complicated and is based on the student’s income level over a period of years. It is also based on the family’s annual gross income, other loan amounts owed, other assets, mortgages etc.
Most student usually choose graduated payment plan or the extended payment plan for their federal student loan consolidation.

FINAL inFormal Article
10/26/06
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Private Student Loans from NextStudent Help Students Stay on Course to Pay for College
Although the cost of college is increasing, a college education still is a good investment. Most often those who choose to go the college route in the end will fare better in the job market and typically will receive better salaries than those who opt out of college.
There are numerous scholarships and grants available to college students. By researching the many scholarships and grants, students can find the “free money” that is out there to help fund their college education.
Private Student Loans Can Save the Day
There are times when private student loans are necessary because borrowers have exhausted the funds available through federal student loans. It never is a bad time to apply for private student loans (http://www.nextstudent.com/private_loans/private_loans.asp) , as they are available any time during the year and have no application deadline.
With private student loans, student borrowers can pay for the entire cost of their education, less financial aid received, which includes tuition, fees, housing costs and supplies. It is easy to apply and preapproval is complete within minutes. There are no application fees and the loans are credit-based and unsecured. Even though borrowers may apply without a co-signer, more private student loans are approved by NextStudent when a qualified co-signer is named.
Students in a pinch need not worry, as the loans go direct to the borrower. In addition, repayment on the loans can start as much as six months following graduation, or when a student is enrolled less than half time at college.
NextStudent’s Student Loan Options
Oftentimes, “free money” is not enough to cover the full cost of an education. This is when student loans (http://www.nextstudent.com/) step in to help save the day. NextStudent offers a wide variety of student loan options to help make student and parent borrowers’ lives easier. From federal Stafford Loans to PLUS loans (https://www.nextstudent.com/plus_loans/apply-online/apply-online.asp) Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students, NextStudent has the loan to best suit each individual borrower’s needs.
Student Loan Amounts and Eligibility
Private student loan borrowers can receive as much as $40,000 annually, or the calculated attendance cost (lesser amount). The available maximum for the program is $130,000.
Student borrowers must be enrolled at college at least half time in order to participate in NextStudent’s Private Student Loan Program. Other requirements include being enrolled at a school approved by the Education Resources Institute in either a degree or certificate program. All NextStudent private loans are guaranteed by TERI, which is a nonprofit organization. The loans also can be available to international students and students taking distance learning courses.
NextStudent, federal lender code 834051, is dedicated to helping students and their families find affordable ways to pay for college. NextStudent offers one-on-one education finance counseling and has a portfolio of highly competitive education finance products and services including a free online scholarship search engine, federally guaranteed parent and student loans, private student loans, both federal and private student loan consolidation (http://www.nextstudent.com/consolidation_loans/consolidation_loans.asp) programs, and college savings plans.
The NextStudent Scholarship Search Engine, one of the nation’s oldest and largest scholarship search engines, is updated daily, available free of charge, completely private and represents 2.4 million scholarships worth $3.4 billion.
For more information about NextStudent and its student loan programs, please visit the company’s Web site at http://www.nextstudent.com/.