Friday, January 16, 2009

How To Find The Best Student Loan Consolidation Programs

By Trinity Tolbert

After four years or more of college, you probably have several different loans. If you are like most people, you had to apply for loans each year, or even semester. This can leave people finishing college with quite a few different loan payments, often to several different lenders. You can save yourself some money and time by consolidating your loans.

You might have government loans or private loans or even both. The loans you have will affect the consolidation program you choose. There are different consolidation programs offered for private and government student loans. Even if you have both, you still have the option to consolidate your debt.

One thing you will want to verify is that you are truly getting a better interest rate by consolidating your loans. Some government loans offer really low interest rates, but if they are variable rates and not fixed rates, then you might see those rates rise. This is another smart reason to consolidate loans; it allows you to lock in the interest rate so it is not affected by future rate fluctuations.

I will highlight four of the most popular financing options when consolidating loans. First, there is the standard repayment plan which is probably the most common consolidation program. With this plan, you make a monthly payment with a fixed interest rate with repayment spanning over ten to thirty years. Second, there is the option of the extended repayment plan. With this plan, your payments will be less than with the standard plan. Repayment will span from twelve to thirty years depending on the total amount you owe.

Option number three is called the graduated repayment plan. With this plan, your monthly payments increase every two years. You have options of paying the amount back over twelve to thirty years. Option number four is called the contingent repayment plan. With this plan, your repayment schedule is contingent on your family size, total amount of loan debt, and your annual income. With this repayment program, the payments are spread out over twenty-five years.

Depending on your financial situation, there are different student loan consolidation programs that will work for you. Deciding on the best student loan consolidation program really depends on what you think is best. No matter which one you choose, consolidating your student loans is usually a smart financial move. - 15224

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