Education Loan Consolidation Options

By Dennis Powell

Ok, you've worked your butt off at college for the last four years, and thanks to your student loans you were actually able to spend most of your time on schoolwork instead of flipping burgers. But now you're out of school, starting on a new career path, and suddenly those friendly student loans are looming ominously as your grace period draws to a close. Fortunately there are a variety of student loan consolidation programs available to help grads and former students make the transition to the regular work world without the specter of unreasonably high payments.

The first place many borrowers will look for a consolidation program is FFEL consolidation. Federal Family Education Loan consolidation offers the option of putting all of your federally funded education debt - both subsidized and unsubsidized - under a single plan. This option can even work for those unfortunate souls who have been in default in the past, and offer fixed rates, extended terms to help you get started in your new life without worrying about loan payments eating up most of threat tiny entry level salary.

Of course not everyone was fortunate enough (or thrifty enough) to have their federal loans cover all of their expenses while in school. People who needed Private loans aren't left out in the cold though. Many companies also offer consolidation packages that will let you put all of your private loans into a single payment. Private consolidation offers many of the same benefits as an FFEL consolidation, but be aware that FFEL and private loans cannot generally be consolidated into a single package. You may need to get two separate consolidation loans, one for your federal loans and another for the private ones.

Many parents use the PLUS loan program to borrow for the children's education. PLUS loans can be consolidated using a PLUS consolidation program much which offers similar benefits and potential pitfalls of FFEL and private consolidation - fixed rates, and lower payments spread over a longer term. Plus loan consolidations are great for some people but parents need to take a good look at all of their options before consolidating.

There are many alternative ways of consolidating education financing. For homeowners a second mortgage may provide a better solution to a consolidation loan giving the borrower the option to put of their education loans into a single package. Private loans from family members are another way some grads handle their finances, and for a lucky few, some employers even offer tuition reimbursement programs.

One of the newest innovations in lending is the idea of micro-financing. Peer to peer lending networks provide the same type structure as peer to peer file sharing networks. With a P2P lending network, borrowers submit their request usually backed by some type of credit check and a variety of lenders bid on it. Usually the P2P organization will service the loan, which may be funded from friends, family members, or even complete strangers.

Making the transition from school life to your career is a road with more than its share of lessons and challenges. Having to make large student loan payments on an entry level salary while trying to save cash for a professional wardrobe, deposits on housing, and other "grown-up" essentials is enough to stop that progress dead in its tracks. There are many things to consider when applying for a consolidation, but knowing that you have options available can help make your transition manageable. - 20765

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