At times it becomes difficult to finance education from your own pocket or via scholarships. For that purpose you must go for student loans. There could be many choices of getting a student loan, depending upon your status and type of education. So, you should check all options available and to choose the best one.
Student loans are of three main types:
• Federal student loans
• Private student loans
• Consolidation student loans
Federal loans are the main source for educational loans. Private financial institutes provide these loans. They are better than private loans, due to their assurance from government and their lowest interest rate.
Credit scores are not accountable for this so almost all students can apply for them before going for any other loan. You can make delay payments, flexible credit requirements and they have longer refund terms. Federal loan is further divided in three major types. i.e.
• Federal Stafford loans
• Federal Perkins loans
• Federal Parent PLUS loans
• Federal Graduate PLUS loans
In further categorization of Federal loans Perkins are better than Stafford due to their lowest interest rate (i.e. 5% interest rate). Federal Perkins loans are only for those who are facing acute financial crises. They have no fee, a lengthy grace period.
On the other hand Federal Stafford loans are more suitable if you need college loan. It has six month grace period and flexible repayments with no fine. You should be declared poor from your school.
Stafford loan can be taken in case you already owe an educational fund. Its interest rate is 6.8%.There is classification of Stafford loan, i.e. if you need a long term and need based loan, and you want government to pay your interest during the school time or you want to request a grace period. In such a case Stafford loan will be term as subsidized federal Stafford loan.
In another case if you need long term and you don’t fall under need based, with low interest rate, or you want additional financial support, then unsubsidized federal Stafford loan is best for you. Here interest will be paid by you. And if you are independent student then you should go for Additional unsubsidized federal Stafford loan.
There is another kind of federal loan termed as federal parent plus loans, they are better for the parents of undergraduate students, who depend on their parents and parents of independent students can’t apply. For this kind of loans it necessary to check credits, they have flexible repayment options and can be used for saving money during repayments of another loan. Prepayment fine is not charged, no wages or security required, repayments can be postpone till 60 months along with the school time period of your dependent child.
For graduates and professional students Federal Graduate plus loans is a best selection and these loans are better than Stafford loans and Private loans for them. You can borrow complete cost of education, but credits are checked, they offer flexible repayments, no prepayment fine is charged, interest could be tax deductible. They could also be helpful to save money for repayments and could be taken with Stafford loans. You can borrow full educational expenses, until you receive some other aid. Fee is charged but you could get help from lenders and sponsors.
If you are attending a community college or a 4 – 5 year college and you are heading for your degree with adequate credits, then you can go for Signature Student Loan. In this type of loan interest rate and fee is variable depending upon the student credits, standard repayment duration is 15 years but can be extended up to 30years.
Now if you have good credits and you are a parent or working adult, graduate or even undergraduate and you own a social security numbers then you are suitable for Tuition Student Loan. You should give the poof that you are already registered as student at licensed institute.
In case your need is not fulfilled by federal Stafford loan or any other aid or scholarship then Signature Student Loan for Community colleges could help you. These loans have a variable interest rate, no prepayment fine and a grace period of six months.
If you are part time student looking forward for degree or postsecondary student and not looking forward for degree, then Continuing Education loan is best for you. In this loan repayments can be done up to 15 years, interest rates are variable and change every month.
For technical training, some sort of continuing education and online courses, Career Training loan is best. Its terms and conditions are almost same as Continuing Education loan only difference is that its fees are from 0% to 6.5%.
By: Steve Morin
Posts Tagged ‘Consolidation Student Loans’
Are Some Student Loans Better Than Others?
January 8th, 2010Reducing Private Student Loans
December 12th, 2009
When looking for debt consolidation student loans, you must consider all or as many of the moving parts that make up the cost of the money borrowed. Just like any loans, there are three (3) general areas where the lender can charge that will raise your costs. These areas are the fixed costs, the interest rates, and penalties. Additionally, there is a fourth area, promotions, that you must heed in order to reduce the total cost of consolidation for private student loans.
FIXED COSTS
You’ve heard of these as application fees and/or origination fees. These are generally explained as covering the paper work to process your loan. Application fees are usually fixed so that a consolidation for private student loans totaling $25,000 will have the same fee as a $100,000 loan.
On the other hand, origination fees are a percentage of the total loan, typically 1%-3%. In the mortgage industry, the origination fee, also called “points”, depends on the interest rate. Lower interest rate means higher origination fees and vice-versa. There’s a term in the mortgage industry that you can “buy down the interest rate by paying higher points”. This is one way to lower the monthly payments. Additionally, the origination fee is a major source of the broker’s commission. The student loan industry seems to have the same mechanics. So it is best to understand how they work.
Because of the current competitive nature of the student loan services, many lenders are discounting the fixed costs. Some are even slashing them off completely. So if you’re in the market for consolidation of private student loans, look first to the program with no origination and no application fees. Make the lenders compete!
INTEREST RATES
Another area of cost is the interest rate. Furthermore, this is where the lender gets most of its income for the life of the loan. Again, because of the competitiveness of the student loan consolidation services, many lenders give incentives that will lower the interest rate.
The most common way to reduce a private student loan interest rate is through an automatic payment plan. In this plan, the lender will deduct the monthly payments directly from your checking account with your authorization. Since it’s done electronically, it will be timely. And that leads to a second opportunity to reduce the interest rate — consecutive “no late” payments for a stated time period. For example, some lenders will lower your interest rate if you make 48 consecutive monthly payments without being late. Over the life of the loan, that could be significant. You must learn these incentives and take advantage of them.
Also, not necessarily a rate reduction plan, but could nevertheless reduce the total cost of the student loan is the option of a fixed rate over that of a variable rate. A fixed rate private student loan consolidation program gives you a predictable monthly cost. A variable rate adjusts according to typical financial factors, such as the federal interest rates and economical conditions. In the early years of the new millenia, interest rates have been its lowest just hovering around 4-7%. However, from the 70’s to most of the 80’s, interest rates were in double digits. Opting for a student loan consolidation with fixed rate can avoid the cyclical high’s of the interest rate roller coaster. But you must catch it at the lowest student loan consolidation rate at that time.
PENALTIES
Just like many mortgages written in the 90’s and older, some student loans have pre-payment penalties. These are money that you owe if you were to pay the loan ahead of schedule. They were industry standard so that the lender does not lose money in the transaction. The penalty is typically a percentage of the remaining balance. Imagine if you paid a 10-year loan in 6 years. There would be a percentage of the 4 remaining years to pay over and above what you already paid.
However, as the student loan consolidation services get more competitive, many lenders have been giving up prepayment penalties to attract credit worthy borrowers. Hence, when speaking to a student loan consolidation counselor, you must ask if you’ll be assessed a pre-payment penalty because there are many programs out there that do not have such penalty.
PROMOTIONS
Lenders are competing for your business. Hence, they give incentives such as a student loan consolidation credit that could lower the total cost of your loan. Typically, these are rebates where the lender will write you a check once you finished paying off the loan. Another popular method is a “no last month payment” where you don’t owe the last month of your bill. Since these are promotions, they are normally given in a limited window of time. But sometimes, it helps to ask your counselor if the lender he’s representing is offering any promotion.
SUMMARY
When times are tough economically, you need all what you can do to relieve the stresses. One way is to take control of your finances, including your debts. For student loans, the opportunities are there to save money. But you must know what they are. When looking to consolidate your private student loans, be aware of the costs. If you have to compromise, understand the advantage you’re gaining and the benefit you’ll be losing. And most of all shop for the right lender and ask the right questions.
By: RL Aguirre