The student loan industry is huge, and it is expanding as college costs rise. With students looking for ways to get into college and capital holders looking for ways to safely and lucratively invest their money, Great Lakes student loans management helps unite people who want to study with people who want to invest in their education.
Great Lakes offers all the federal loans available through the Federal Family Education Loan Program. This includes Stafford loans, which offer some funding for every year a student is in school. These can be subsidized by the federal government on a need basis, meaning that until the student finishes school, the government pays the interest on the loan, allowing the student to defer payment without capitalizing the interest. Students with unsubsidized loans also have the option of paying off the loan or just the interest while they study to avoid capitalizing the interest later.
Other federal loans include PLUS loans, which are offered to parents of students in any year of college and to graduate students in addition to the Stafford loan. This loan comes with a minimal credit requirement, which can be met using a cosigner. Federal loans are offered through the FFEL as well as directly from the Department of Education, in order to enforce a standard maximum fixed interest rate, but share the burden (and opportunity) of funding student loans between the government and lenders. By managing FFEL student loans, Great Lakes makes it possible for private investors to tap into this market.
Great Lakes also offers private or non-traditional student loans, tailored to meet both the financial needs of students and the investment and security needs of lenders. These loans make it possible for students to pay the remaining costs of their education after federal loans.
Great Lakes offers a number of services for prospective students and lenders which serve to help students plan their education, help lenders increase their business, and to generally promote higher education, which, as a higher education guaranty corporation, serves Great Lakes’ interests. These resources include pamphlets and online resources outlining the benefits of receiving a college education, loan calculators for students, and loan education resources for lenders, borrowers, schools, and counselors and financial aid professionals.
For lenders and borrowers who have already established a relationship, Great Lakes has online resources for borrowers and management software for lenders. Great Lakes offers personal financial management resources for students, as well as mutually beneficial resources for helping students avoid defaulting on loans, including consolidation options.
Great Lakes student loans services help students pay for their education by providing lenders who are interested in investing in their future.
By: Adam Hefner
Posts Tagged ‘Stafford Loans’
Great Lakes Student Loans Services Manage Loans for Lenders, Borrowers
February 6th, 2010Consolidating Your Student Loans
January 4th, 2010
Debt from student loans can be crushing to recent college graduates and get in the way of achieving other life goals. Fortunately, there is a way to reduce the strain on your finances and even improve your credit score. Many graduates are turning to loan consolidating to help manage their loan repayments. The procedure and requirements differ from federal and private loans.
Consolidating Federal Loans
Stafford loans and Federal Perkins loans are examples of federal loans. These loans are given to you by the government and may or may have accrued interest while you were attending school. Consolidating your federal student loans provides a fixed-rate refinancing program that takes all of your existing federal loans and combines them into one new loan. Your monthly student loan repayment could be cut by as much as 50% as well as reduce your interest rate by .6% if you consolidate during your grace period. One monthly payment will help you simplify your finances.
Payment relief
By creating one consolidated loan you can receive payment relief, a lengthening of your repayment term from the standard 10 years to up to 30 years. This frees up your disposable income to spend on other expenses like car payments, housing, and work-related necessities. There are no penalties for overpayment, so when the funds become available you can make larger payments and minimize your repayment term.
Consolidating Private loans
Like federal loans, consolidating private loans means lumping everything into one new loan. To consolidate your private loans from undergraduate school you will have to apply with a qualified co-signer in order to be approved. If you have a graduate degree you do not have to apply with a co-signer.
Some of the benefits include reduced interest rates, rate reductions, deferment, and no prepayment penalties. Loan holders may lower your interest rates if your credit has improved. Applying with a co-signer who has good credit could help you get a lower APR loan. There is a grace period for medical/dental residents as well as military personnel if their private student loans are consolidated. As with federal student loan consolidation, you can also have your repayment period extended allowing you to pay the lowest monthly payment possible.
By: Joseph Devine
College Student Loans – Federal and Private Loans
December 27th, 2009
When a student or parent sets out to obtain a loan and/or financing a college education there are a many different sources they can go to in order to acquire the funding necessary. However, there are two different categories of loans which are either federal loans or private loans.
As for federal funding for college, in many cases it is much easier to get the financing if you fit the criteria set in place. By far, one of the most popular federal student loans is the Stafford loan. There are two types of Stafford loans which are the federal family educational loan and the William D. Ford federal direct loan. The process of obtaining a Stafford loan is through the student filling out a federal student aid application, then once approved they will sign a promissory note on the loan.
The only real difference between the two types of Stafford loans is where the actual funding is coming from. For a direct loan, the funds are coming directly from the federal government as for a FFEL loan, the funding comes from either a bank, credit union or another participating lender in the program.
There are also a couple more that should be mentioned in this article and those are the Parent PLUS and Perkins loans. First, the Parent PLUS loan is designed for parents in need of assistance for paying their child’s college fees. This loan basically will fill in any gaps that the parent needs in order to cover all the college expenses fully.
The Perkins loan is basically a student loan which can be applied for at the college or university financial aid office which usually has a very low interest rat, but has a maximum loan amount of around $4,000 each year for students. They are federal fund and can be added to other types of funding. There are late fees and fees for skipping payments on the Perkins loan as well.
These loans and more can all be inquired upon at your selected college or university.
Credit history may not be as necessary if it is necessary at all in obtaining these types of funding options. As opposed to federal student loan funding, there are many private lenders willing to provide assistance for college funding as well. However, if you so decide to take the private lender route for financing a student loan, it is important to remember that most will need a bit of a credit history from the potential debtor and will most likely require a co-signer on the loan if the student with not much credit history at all is attempting to obtain the financing.
Federal funding for college students who need the financing, as well as parents is very available for anyone who has a need for such funding and it would be a good idea to look at all the options available in order to compare interest rates, fees, and more as these student loans will be around for a while after college as some loans will begin the payment schedule immediately during college like the Parent PLUS. Other repayment schedules will begin after 6 months for Stafford loans and 9 months for Perkins. So it would be a good idea to get all this information first hand before making any quick decisions about your college student loans.
By: S. Michael Windsor