Student Loans For College

It seems as though it is easier to get a student loan for college these days. The hard part about how to get a college student loan is "getting a good interest rate." Some people spend years repaying their college student loans. I bet they never imagined how long it would take to to repay their student loans.

Applying for a Student Loan for college

It has become very convenient to apply for a student loan for college. You can be approved for a student loan quickly. Even if you have bad credit you can still get approved for a student loan.

More than likely you may have already received mail or email regarding your pre-approval for a student loan. The catch with these offers is the terms of the student loan. The main objective of the sender is to try and lock you into thinking you qualify for a student loan, without paying much attention to the terms of the loan. Then they hit you with high interest rates and high monthly payments once you graduate.

Repaying a College Student Loan

There is a high number of college students who graduate in debt. They took out a student loan for college and are becoming overwhelmed with monthly payments which results in Student Loan Debt. Fresh out of college a good job plus financial freedom. Exactly that makes it so easy to want to put your payments on student loans "off" so you can buy a car or rent an apartment. This is not good because to avoid student loan debt repaying your student loans has to be a priority once you graduate. Think logically or think "student loan debt."

Some students have graduated and have no clue about their student loan payment options. This happens all of the time because a lot of college graduates do not know where to find information regarding their student loan debt.

Student Loan Debt Relief

Is there a solution for student loan debt? If you need more financial freedom from your student loans your lender won't mind extending your student loan payment time. This is because they will still be paid, just over a longer period of time.
Usually this results in the student paying more money over time with these low monthly long term payments. Student debt relief? Absolutely 15 years later when you finally finishing paying off your loan.

College Student Loan Alternatives

A scholarship is the first thing that should come to mind when you think about college tuition. Contrary to this a student loan should be your absolute resort.

Before considering a student loan following these steps will help you make the best out of your college financial aid query:

1) Apply for Scholarships

2) Apply for Grants

3) Apply for student loans

4) Take advantage of Student Loan options

5) Don't fall victim to Student Loan Debt

The steps listed above start with free sources of financial aid for college. The last few steps of applying for student loans and making payments.

When you can't get any scholarships or grants and you need a student loan you should take the following steps:

Find a good Student Loan -Lender

Compare rates to accomplish step 1

Have someone who can be a co-signer of the student loan

Try to be in good credit standings

Get a few free credit reports to accomplish the previous step

When you find a good rate think about the long term

Don't get rates that you can't pay when you graduate college

Began making payments immediately upon graduation (with the exception of the grace period)
Student Loans for College Recap

When applying for a student loan for college, understand the terms clearly.

*When repaying a college student loan make it a priority and understand your grace period options.

Shop around for the best student loan interest rate and payment terms.

Remember it is a loan for college, don't let the payments linger for 30 years.
It is strongly advised that you consider all of your sources for free college financial aid before considering a student loan. Follow the appropriate steps listed in this article and you will find financial aid for college or have a better understanding of how to approach Student Loans for College.

Student Loan Debt ... 5 Strategies That Work

Graduating from college is the easy bit. It's "growing up" that's difficult, especially when a freshly-minted graduate realizes that she's taking her first step into full blown independent adulthood with on average $20,000 of student loan debt hanging off her neck.

Student Loan "Grace Period" 6 Months After Graduation. Cleaning up after graduation parties and removing end-of-senior-year mind cobwebs reveals that each new graduate has a Federally mandated 6 month grace period in order to pay down the total student loan obligation...or to refinance the debt via a 1-time student loan consolidation.

Consolidating Student Loans. Student loan consolidation involves some simple, but important rules. Only graduates can consolidate. Current students are barred from consolidating student loans.

* Student Loan Consolidation Rule #1. Identify 100% of your outstanding college student loans. Why 100%? The Government only permits a 1-time student loan consolidation. Forget to include a past borrowing and you get nailed. The National Student Loan Data System manages a database where your loan history should be recorded.

* Student Loan Consolidation Rule #2. Time matters. Consolidating student loans must result in your application being received on or before 30 June if you want to avoid potential interest rate increases.

* Student Loan Consolidation Rule #3. Freshly graduated students are provided a 6-month grace period following graduation. Identify, say, your total Stafford student loan portfolio and then consolidate student loans in one fell swoop...and you'll receive an instant 0.6% interest rate reduction on the balance. This discount could become serious money savings over time.

* Doing The Math. Student loan consolidation is based on math...taking weighted averages of all past borrowings, then rounding up 1/8th percent to result in your consolidated student loan interest rate. All of this consolidation occurs prior to 30 June in the year that you apply.

Where Are The Lowest Cost Student Loans? Thank you Big Government...the best student loans rates you'll get are Federally issued Stafford, Perkins or PLUS student loans. Government-backed, these Stafford and related student loan borrowing plans offer lower interest rates than private market lenders can offer, along with more flexible loan repayment terms. Why? Unlike a personal loan, the Federal student loan transfers a portion of the borrower's risk to the Government...resulting in lower-cost-of-funds.

Are Personal Background Credit Checks Always Required? No. Not every student, or her parents, necessarily has the cash or good credit history to satisfy student loan lenders. The good news is that "No child left behind" and the American commitment towards higher education...enters into a marriage of convenience with profit-seeking lenders...to create a secondary market in bad credit student loans. Risk adjusted, bad credit student loans carry marginally higher interest expenses, are generally more inflexible regarding payment lapses, yet offer longer repayment terms which lowers the monthly out-of-pocket expense. Meanwhile Federal Stafford or Perkins loans are 'credit neutral' and do not require a credit background check in order for a student and his family to qualify.

Federal Student Loans Versus Private Loan Sources - Pros & Cons. Historically, Federal PLUS, Perkins or Stafford student loans offered the most flexibility and, due to government backing, the lowest interest and repayment rates. Until 2006 Federal loans could be "variable"... where the next year's interest rate is based on the Treasury market in a 90 plus trading period ending 1 June. The new "variable rate" becomes effective 1 July each year for all past variable rate loans. For example, 2006 Federal student loan rates for variable carried a 6.54% interest cost.

* Congress Passes New "Fixed" Rate Student Loan. Because of new legislation passed by Congress, all "new" Federal Stafford loans from 1 July, 2006 onwards are now "fixed" at 6.8%.

Fine Print - What's The True Discount Student Loan? College student loan "deals" require a mix of focus and document review in order to decipher the true nature of "discounts". As Albert Einstein opined "God dwells amongst the details" and so it applies to student loan documents.

* Practical Example. For example, "discounts for on-time payments" may look attractive...but what if the interest rate deduction "reward" only occurs retroactively after 4 to 5 years? One missed payment anywhere in the time-stream and presto...the discount vanishes. Or, certain discounts only apply to portions of the loan term...in other words, you'll pay "full rate" for substantially all of the loan life, and the discount only applies to a portion of the loan life. Result? An advertised 1.25% "discount" may actually be worth only .25% when you move through the discount analysis. A useful site for families interested in the "fine print" cost of student loans is www.finaid.org.