How Education Loan Consolidation Can Help You
Doug Smith

Defined Tag: Education Loan Consolidation.

An education loan consolidation can take all those big, scary student loans and combine them into a single, lower interest loan with a lower monthly payment. There is no need to keep up with multiple due dates for student loans, writing several checks, juggling loan coupon books, and other financial paperwork. The single monthly college loan consolidation payment can even be automatically deducted from a checking account, preventing missed payments entirely.

To begin consolidating educational loans, gather all the student loan information together. Then visit the website www.nslc.org, the National Student Clearinghouse. Loan consolidation can also take place through the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), or you can even contact the U.S. Department of Education directly.

If all your tuition loans came from the same lender, you will have to perform the college loan consolidating through that lender. The consolidation process will consist of an application, including all your current loan info and personal financial information. An interview may be required, depending on the lender. Some applications can be submitted online. If the education consolidation is approved, that low-interest loan will be used to pay off all the higher-interest college loans. Then the graduate will have only one monthly payment to worry about, instead of several.

You can consolidate nearly all federal loans. Sometimes the process can begin while you are still in school. Most often, it begins at the end of the student loan grace period for repayment, while you are seeking and hopefully finding a job. The interest rate on the consolidate loan will likely be lower than any of the annual percentage rates (APR) on the individual loans. However, education loans can only be consolidated once, while mortgage and car loans can be reconsolidated several times.

It is the graduate's responsibility to find a college loan consolidator. Some of them may find you instead via telemarketing or mail. Loan companies may target lists of new college graduates in hopes of gaining new refinancing clients. However, reject any lender that requires up front fees or costs. All the fees and closing costs of the education loan consolidation can be wrapped up in the loan itself and paid over time.

Copyright 2008 by Doug Smith. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Unauthorized Duplication Prohibited. Not Intended As Professional Advice.