The Facts About Consolidating Student Loans

Consolidation Equals Extra Cash In Your Wallet!

If you are a recent college graduate or will graduate by the end of next semester, you should seriously consider consolidating your student loans. This is especially true if most of your loans are private and your credit rating has greatly improved since the time you first secured them. The reason for this is that you can get those loans refinanced at much a lower interest rate.
Let's face it - Managing multiple loans each month can be nightmare. Unless you are a very organized person, it is very easy to slip every now and then and be late or even miss one or more of your payments. This is when you get hit with late fees and you pay more in interest. And if things aren't going well for you financially, it is going to be even tougher to consistently make your payments. This is precisely why consolidation can be a welcome relief provided you do it right way. So, what exactly is student loan consolidation? It is simply a way to combine all your existing loans into one new loan under a new term so that you make only one payment each month. Depending on the terms you negotiate, your monthly payments can be significantly reduced so that they become a lot more affordable and you have money to pay your other bills or put away into your savings account. If you have both federal and private student loans, however, you'll need to have two separate consolidated loans (one federal and one private) since federal and private loans cannot be consolidated together.
Student loan consolidation does not need to be a complicated process but you do need to do your due diligence. For federal loans, there are certain eligibility criteria that you need to meet but some its benefits are that you don't need any collateral, a co-signer, or even have to go through credit checks. You can even apply online if you like. With private student loan consolidation, you really need to research the company with whom you wish to consolidate your loans and thoroughly understand the terms and conditions you'll be bound to. Planning ahead and doing all your research will get you well on your way to major savings each month.