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[I10]I Consolidate Student Loans

by Marjorie Salada, Mar

With the announcement of the student loan interest rate increase being less than 30 days old, students are hurrying to get the best school loan consolidation deals available. There are several companies who are in the business of consolidating student loans for recent college graduates.

Due to the student loan interest rate increase being so significant, the Department of Education is allowing student loans to be consolidated while the student is still in school. Current students will find the in-school interest rate as low as 2.5%, but is more likely to be around 4.5%. After July 1, the in-school interest rate could exceed 7%.

Although the student will be giving up their six month grace period, they will not be responsible for making payments on the consolidated school loan until after they graduate. Even though there will be no six month grace period, the student still benefits by saving hundreds and maybe even thousands of dollars in interest payments on their consolidated student loans.

Likewise, if you will be taking out a student loan you will also see an increase in student loan interest rates. After July 1, 2006 Stafford loans will increase to 6.8% and PLUS loans will go to 8.5%. The interest rates on both of these types of student loans are fixed interest rates.

These are some of the benefits of consolidating your student loans:

?Potential savings of hundreds of dollars in interest payments over the loan period by locking in a low, fixed interest rate
?The convenience of making one monthly payment to one lender
?Lower payments due to the loans being consolidated and the repayment period being extended
?Most lenders will lower your interest rate after 36 months of on-time payments
?No prepayment penalties
?Interest paid on student loans, in most cases, is tax deductible
?Overall benefit to your credit rating, due to have one loan with one lender, instead of several loans.

Even if you are not able to make the July, 1 2006 deadline, it is still to your benefit to consolidate your student loans. You will get a fixed interest rate and one payment. For me, the convenience of having only one monthly payment made college student loan consolidation worth it.

Students graduate from college with that prize possession: the much-anticipated college degree. Then there are those students who graduate college with that added bonus: a stack of student loans. While searching for the ultimate job, the last thing a student needs is worrying about how to pay off a ton of student loans.

Student Loan Consolidation in One Simple Payment

It would make life so much easier to pay one student loan bill instead of five, six, seven or even eight – sometimes more! After graduation there's so much to think about: finding the ultimate job, finding a place to live, and figuring out how to pay for everything.

Thinking about paying monthly student loan bills certainly will not make life easy or happy. No one enjoys paying bills. The task becomes even worse and more stressful when there are piles of bills to pay. By consolidating student loans life will get easier and payments might be lower.

Fast Track to Student Loan Consolidation

Consolidation isn't a foreign word and it's not too big of a word to understand. Consolidation is easy. It combines all of a student's loans into one payment. It's that simple. It's easy as pie and will let you breathe easier too. Student loan consolidation is convenient and allows you to combine all your loans. In addition, consolidation is no longer only geared toward federal loans. Now students also can consolidate their private loans.

The Time is Now for Student Loan Consolidation

There's no time like the present to consolidate outstanding student loans. Even though interest rates on federal student loans were at their lowest from July 1, 2004 to July 1, 2005, it's still a great time to combine student loans. The rates most likely will increase in July 2006, so consolidating now is a bright idea. Federal student loan consolidation can be as low as 4.75 percent. Private student loan consolidation depends on the lender, and the borrower's credit.

Students who have multiple student loans oftentimes are inundated with varying interest rates and repayment terms. Getting it all in order every month can prove to be a literal nightmare.

Student Loan Consolidation Incentives

With federal student loan consolidation, rates are fixed. Students also can take advantage of deferment, forbearance and cancellation options.

Another highlight of student loan consolidation is the extension of payments. Many students find they can extend a 10-year repayment plan to as long as 30 years. This depends on a borrower's balance, so it's important to check out the options. Student loan consolidation offers students the same interest rate on the same amount, but for a longer term, hence better affordability.

There are so many good reasons to get on the road to student loan consolidation. By taking a stack of student loan bills and combining them into one, it's like a magic trick. However, it's a trick that will help ease life for many students who are inundated with multiple loan bills, not to mention all of the other daily stresses of life for graduating students.

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Both Marjorie Salada & Nessa Mchooley are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Marjorie Salada has sinced written about articles on various topics from Gastric Bypass, Asthma and Credit Cards. Marjorie Salada is the owner of , a website that contains information and resources for consolidating your student loans.. Marjorie Salada's top article generates over 110000 views. to your Favourites.

Nessa Mchooley has sinced written about articles on various topics from College Student Loan. . Nessa Mchooley's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.