Seek Sound Advice Before Consolidating Student Loans

There's a lot of of college loans procurable for College Students who's searching financial aid to go to a University. A popular college loan consolidation avenue countless students take is through the U.S. Government Federal Loan Program. A Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form must be filled out before a Student can be considered for a particular government student loan. There are also four types of government loans namely, Graduate PLUS Loan, Parent PLUS Loan, Perkins Loan and the Stafford Loan. With inumerable web sites and supposedly experts in the media, it is important that a Student get the best student loan consolidation advice they can procure.

A student financial future may hinge on whether or not they decide to consolidate their student loans. Student loan consolidation simply means the act of obtaining one loan to pay off all the others, thus creating one loan where a Student or the Parents may have had 2 or more loans to pay off. Government student loan consolidation can make a borrower choose from the four repayment procedures like the extended payment plan. Consolidation of student loans generally results in a lower monthly payment with no penalties included for the early paying off of the loan.
In most cases, students and parents will find that there is no credit check required to obtain these Federal consolidation loans. Plus, it's possible that your interest rate will be lower as well. And also, if a government student loan is consolidated its application process will be a lot simpler. Those with Private student loans need to review the pro's and con's of private student loan consolidation before applying.

The lower monthly payment you may receive when consolidating will help ease the burden of paying this loan back. This helps many students get on their feet and obtain a good paying job so that repaying their student loan doesn't put them in in a financial crisis.

One needs to know the pitfalls associated with student loan consolidation. Student loan consolidation is not a good choice for everyone. There are shortcomings to consolidating your college loan, and there are darn few people who will warn you about these dangers, especially the lenders.

Many parents and students fail to act after consolidating their student loans. Meaning that they fail to improve upon their financial circumstances. Consolidation gives you a chance to get on your feet again, but if you go right back into debt or fail to get out and get a good job, you'll likely be right back into a financial crisis when it comes time to start repaying your student loan.
Should you be thinking about consolidating your Federal loan during the six month grace period, think again. Consolidating at this time will result to the loss of the rest of the grace period. Additionally, a consolidated loan means an extended payment plan which can cause a the total amount to be paid back to be raised as time goes on. This can make the total amount of money paid back to increase by thousands of dollars.

Federal student loans are truly a gift for students who are in need of financial aid. However, consolidating it may or may not have a positive effect on your long term financial situation. Smart students and parents will do their due diligence when researching on whether or not to consolidate college loans.

By: Dale Z Kacheezey