Comments on: Student Loan Consolidation: Make your Student Loan Repayment Easier to Manage

By: ab1tchslap

ab1tchslap — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:04:10 +0000

“The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency.” -Vladimir Lenin

By: Garcia0384

Garcia0384 — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 01:52:51 +0000

I’m just a dumb veteran going to college on the GIBIll…should I be planning to work in China/Europe in 4 years??

Assuming the treasury in austin doesn’t dry up..

By: hockeydude25

hockeydude25 — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 01:04:39 +0000

Consolidation will allow you to choose a longer repayment term (up to 30 yrs, depending on your loan amount) which will give you the cushion of lower monthly payments. However, a longer term means you will pay more interest over the life of the loan (just like if you payed only the minimum on your credit card).

Sallie Mae offers lots of information on their website, including a calculator so you can plug in your loan amount and see what your payments would be, depending on which repayment plan you choose.

http://www.salliemae.com/after_graduation/manage_your_loans/consolidate_student_loans/

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:45:42 +0000

By: esweetie01

esweetie01 — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:24:07 +0000

Private student consolidation loans are not guaranteed by the gov't – so they're a much higher risk to the lender. Therefore, they're typically based on the credit history of the borrower. It's unlikely you'd get a significantly different interest rate if you shop around to different lenders.

What you can do is get your credit in as good shape as possible before you consolidate, and/or find a cosigner with good credit. This can help bring the interest rate down. The rates may *seem* high, but they're probably lower than a typical credit card or car loan rate, plus the interest on them may be deductible on your taxes.