Saturday, October 13, 2007

The Best Companies For Student Loan Consolidation

What are the best companies for student loan consolidation? There are many ways to handle paying your college loans. Many graduates prefer to consolidate their multiple college loans into one loan. Contacting one of the many companies that lend money specifically for student loan consolidation helps make the decision to consolidate much easier.

Even if you can make the monthly payments from your original loans, you may still want to consider consolidating to lower your payments and free up money for other bills with higher interest rates. Using some of the best companies for student loan consolidation helps make the process easier rather than going to a company that doesn't specialize in student loan consolidations

A consolidation loan lets you combine all your federal student loans into one single loan. Consolidation loans have fixed interest rates that are based on a weighted average of all the loans you are consolidating. You can gain a lower total interest rate if you contact companies that provide loans at the lowest average interest rate. This protects you from future rate increases, but does not allow you to benefit if variable rates decrease in the future. You can also get decreased interest rates by making regular payments or simply allowing your payments to be drafted directly from your bank account.

Consider The Cost

Repayments on consolidated loans begin within 60 days of consolidation and have payback terms between 10 and 30 years depending on the amount of the loan and the payment options you select. Some of the best consolidation companies for student loan consolidation will have a variety of plans for repayment, so you're sure to find one that matches your circumstances. You can also pay your loans off early and there is generally no fee associated with doing so.

While loan consolidation can simplify loan payments and lower your monthly bill by as much as 50%, it can increase the total cost of paying off your loan. Consolidation companies are able to offer lower monthly payments by extending the life of the loan. This fact means that the amount of interest you pay may double by the time you pay off the loan. If you don't need the payment relief offered by consolidation, you should carefully consider the cost of paying your non-consolidated loans against the cost of loan consolidation.

You should also consider the fact that once consolidated; you will lose many of the benefits of a non-consolidated loan such as discounts on your interest rate, principle rebates, or loan cancellation benefits, all of which can decrease the amount of your loan.

College loan repayments don't have to be a source of stress in your young adulthood. If you are doing all you can to make your monthly payments, but still can't find a way to make ends meet it may be best that you contact one of the many companies that offer student loan consolidation. Don't struggle, investigate today.