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Student loan default can be defined as a student loan that has not had a payment made for 270 days or more. Before your loan falls into the default status, it will be considered delinquent, and your creditors will try and collect on the loan any way they can.

If you are trying to hide from your debt and cannot be contacted by your lender or their associates, it will be placed into the default status and turned over to a state guarantee agency or it will be placed in the hands of the Department of Education.

When this takes place, the entire amount you have borrowed becomes due and payable right away. Not just the amount you are behind on, but the entire amount you financed with your original student loan. This happens because the maturity date is accelerated due to your default status, and you agreed to this in your original terms of the student loan you took out.

Other consequences that go along with being in student loan default can include:

Being turned over to a collection agency so that they may try to collect the debt from you;

Your original amount borrowed can be increased to include and costs associated with collecting the loan from you such as court costs and lawyer fees;

You can be sued for the full amount due at any time while in default;

Your wages can be garnished, leaving you with less money than you had originally planned on;

Your income taxes can be withheld for payment;

Your credit history will show that you have defaulted on your loans making it difficult to obtain any kind of financing in the future and possibly interfere with your ability to find someone willing to hire you;

You will no longer be able to receive any kind of financial aid until these loans that are in default are paid in full or you have made half a years payments on time;

You will not be able to receive any federal interest benefits of any kind if you allow your student loan to go into the default status.

In the end, you will have to pay back any amounts you have borrowed to finance your education. If you let your loan go into default, you will have to pay back the original amount plus up to 25% more due to the fees associated with collecting the funds from you.

Lowering interest rates have made student loan consolidation interest rates an option being considered by many people. Nearly 80% of students have some type of student loan by the time they graduate and the average loan for a student is $10,000. For many students and parents, education loans have come from several sources, have varying interest rates, and have higher payments that one is comfortable with.

Education loans fall into two categories, Federal education and Private education loans. When a student is considering consolidation it is important to keep these categories separated. The method for calculating consolidation interest rates for federal education loans are strictly regulated by the government. The education loans provided by private lenders do fall under the same restrictions and requirements and can vary greatly depending of the lender gave the loan.

aStudent loan consolidation interest rates for federal loans are calculated by taking the average rate of all of the loans and rounding up to the nearest 1/8%. The loan, then will fall somewhere between the highest interest and the lowest interest. The maximum rate is 8.25%.

There are some instances when an individual with a PLUS student loan will be able to receive a lower rate by consolidating. The cap on a PLUS student loan is 8.5%. However, when the PLUS is consolidated, the cap is 8.25%. By consolidating the PLUS loan a student can save 0.25%. This is called the PLUS Loan Loophole.

When private education loans are consolidated an individual will want to compare the interest rates and fees of different lenders. These are calculated just like a mortgage loan would be. Lenders calculate these loans on either the prime rate plus margin for the borrower and co-signer or the LIBOR. They usually charge between 1% and 5% origination fees depending on the credit of the borrower. This fee is included in the loan.

Deferred interest will also affect the total of a consolidation loan. Lenders usually capitalize the deferred interest of the original loan and include that in the consolidation. There also be discounts and benefits that must be paid back to the original lender when the loan is consolidated.

The benefits of consolidation is that all of a person’s loans are in one location and the same interest rate is being paid. In addition, the repayment period is often longer than the original repayment period so the monthly payment will be lower. However, it is important to consider what the final cost of getting a consolidation will be compared to maintaining the original loan. It is also important to talk to a professional who can talk about the options that are available to help an individual find the best interest rates that are available.

In July of 2006, the interest rate on federal student loans rose. The impact is that these rates will remain high through 2012.

Should You Consolidate?

If your student loan has a variable rate, it is not such a good idea to consolidate the loan as you could end up paying a higher overall rate of interest. If you have a fixed rate, however, consolidation would be a viable option.

The Benefits of Consolidating Your Student Loan

* Payment – you will only have one payment to make each month and won’t have to keep track of individual payments and interest rates.

* Reduced worry – you will no longer live in dread of the phone ringing and hearing the voice of a creditor on the other end.

* Emotional savings – you will benefit from a reduced preoccupation over paying back your loan.

* More options when making payments – when repaying a student loan consolidation, you will typically be extended a higher degree of leniency when making your repayments. This can be of great importance when you have to adhere to a strict budget.

The Down Side of Student Loan Consolidation

Your new loan amount will most likely become larger. Many people do not realize that an increase in the amount of the loan is one of the consequences of going down this avenue. This is because by consolidating your loan you will be adding more years to it. You might be able to pay less every month, but it is at a cost. You could wind up paying much more over time.

Additionally, you are not guaranteed to be accepted for this type of consolidation even if it is a simple application process.

More Hints

If you are interested in consolidating your student loans, now is the time to do so. The result of waiting could be that you end up with a much higher interest rate.

Make sure you have sufficient knowledge of the process before engaging, and certainly before committing to a new loan. Take the time to read the small print of any agreements to fully understand your obligations before signing.

Assess various interest rates offered, and resist the temptation to opt for the first good one you come across. With a little persistence and patience, you will likely find a good interest rate that accommodates your financial need.

Opting for the lowest repayment plan you can find should, ironically, be your last choice. If you are in a position to make higher payments, do so. That will reduce the length of your loan and improve your financial situation more quickly. By selecting a lower repayment, you might have more money to spend every month, but you’ll wind up paying much more for your loan over the long haul.

You are getting a few student loans to support your study. After the graduation, you need to start repaying these student loans. These student loans come with different interest rates and they have different repayment due date for each month. You may find it difficult to manage your multiple student loans and any late payment or miss payment may hurt your credit rating.

Student Loan Consolidation Program is a loan repayment program for college students and graduates with multiple student loans to make their repayment easier. However, before signing on the dotted line, it’s important for students to understand some basic facts about consolidation.

What A Student Loan Consolidation Program Does?

The student loan consolidation program allows you to combine all your outstanding student loans. For example, if you have three separate government student loans, you can consolidate them into one single loan. Technically, all three of those loans will be considered paid in full and a new loan will be started in their place. The basic concept is you are getting a new loan to pay off all your outstanding student loans; which mean instead of having 3 student loans with 3 repayment amount and due date, after the loan consolidation, you only have one loan with one repayment amount and one due date. It will enable you to manage your loan easier.

How A Student Loan Consolidation Program Will Help?

By consolidating your outstanding student loans through student loan consolidation program, you basically can enjoy at least 3 benefits:

1. More Convenient

With multiple student loans, you will have to make multiple payments every month; that means there are more paperwork and due dates to keep track of. There are more chances that you may miss one of them and cause you to make late payment. You can get rid of this hassle by consolidate them into single repayment and make you easier to keep track only one payment with one due date and one repayment amount.

2. Save You Some Money



All loans come with interest, so do the student loans. Although student loans normally have lower interest rate, student loan consolidation program may be able to negotiate a lower interest for your new consolidation loan than all your current loan rates and save you some money on interest. For example, you have 3 outstanding loans may be required to make $150 payments each month to all three lenders. That is a total of $450 per month. After consolidation with only one payment is required and that payment is usually much less than the combined payments from all of the loans. This can be huge benefit to you especially if you are new graduate who are just getting started in your careers and who don’t have the income necessary to cover large loan expenses right away.

3. More Repayment Possibilities



Consolidating your student loans may open up additional opportunities for you. You may be offered with deferment choices and/more repayment possibilities. These offers can come in handy if you wish to further your education to another level, struggling to find employment in your field or experiencing financial hardships.

In Summary

Managing your multiple student loans are not too hard but you can make them more convenient and easier by combine them into one through the student loan consolidation program and enjoy the benefits it can offers. However, before enrolling into any of the student loan consolidation program, you need to understand the details and ensure the package is really inline with you financial needs.

Once you get near the end of your college career, something you’ll probably be considering is college student loan consolidation. Of course, while there are many benefits to consolidating, you’ll find that it’s not all about the positive side. There are both pros and cons that you need to consider before you decide whether or not these consolidation loans are right for you. Here’s a look at the pros and cons of college student loan consolidation to help you make the best financial decision.

There are some very obvious pros to consider if you are thinking about consolidating your college loans. Of course, one of the most obvious pros is that you can often reduce your payments when you go with a good consolidation loan. Another pro is that usually you can reduce your interest rates as well. Reduced interest rates can help you to save quite a bit of money over time. If you have a lot of loans to deal with, this can help you get your financial future started and it can save you money as well.

Another pro is better organization when you go about consolidating college student loans. It can be difficult to keep up with many different loans that you accrue through your college education. However, when you do consolidate into one loan, instead of having to remember several different payments, you only have to remember one, which is definitely a positive.

There are indeed many pros to consolidating your student loans, but there are also some cons that you need to think about as well before you make the final decision. Once you consolidate, this is pretty final. You can reconsolidate once in most cases, but you can only do this to consolidate together two consolidate loans or to add another loan to the consolidation.