Private Student Loan vs Federal Student Loan

Federal Student Loan is the most common college student loan. There are mainly two kinds of federal student loans i.e. subsidized and unsubsidized.

Subsidized college student loan: Government pays the interest whilst the student is attending the college.

Unsubsidized college student loan: there is no interest free period and you will have to pay the interest with principal amount, after completion of education.

Not all students qualify for a federal student loan. In case when students are unable to grab a federal

student loan, there is another kind of student loan known as private student loan. Many lenders offer private student loans and the rate of interest vary greatly.

Private student loan also known as personal student loan or alternative student loan will help you paying the college fees, hostel rent, stationary and other expenses, at much competitive interest rates than credit cards. Nevertheless, private student loan should be only used when there is no option left. You should be very cautious while borrowing money from the lender, as you will have to pay it back with interest.

Qualifying for private student loan depends upon the credit criteria established by the lender. Credit criteria mainly differs with private student loan, whether the borrower is a parent or a student.

Here are some factors, which decide eligibility for a private student loan.

1) Your credit report

2) Your parents credit report

3) Delinquency problems

4) Excessive debt loads

5) A cosigner will be an advantage in getting a private student loan because when primary borrower fails to repay, that responsibility falls to the cosigner.

Before applying for a private student loan you should study the offers at your local financial institutions. Then compare this search with the offers made by the online student loan companies. Only then you will be able to know the best one tailored for you.

By Oliver Turner

5 Benefits of Student Loan Consolidation

Benefits of Student Loan Consolidation

Here are some of the benefits of student loan consolidation

1. Lower monthly payments

By consolidating all your student loans into one loan, you only need to pay off one loan monthly instead of several student loans monthly. Thus, your monthly payment is lower

2. Pay only one loan monthly instead of several student loans monthly

It is a lot easier if you have to manage only one student loan instead of several student loans with different payment deadlines. Also, sometimes with many student loans, you may ended up forgetting to pay one student loan.

3. Low, fixed interest rate

By consolidating your student loans, you will be able to take advantages of low, fixed interest rates. Currently, by law, student loan consolidation rates cannot exceed 8.25%. Furthermore, national interest rates are at a 40-year low therefore this is a good time to get one.

4. No credit card check or processing fees

No credit card check is required during the application of a student loan consolidation. The payment plans and terms are usually quite flexible in that they can customize it according to your financial standing.

5. Make monthly student loan payment electronically

While it is not necessary to make payment electronically, most lenders will knock 0.25% off your student loan rates if you make payment electronically. Also, using direct debit from your bank account will prevent you from forgetting to make a payment.

Sometimes it can get quite confusing as to the qualification of applying for a student loan consolidation. The official stand from the government is that students who are still in their grace period or who are still studying in school may qualify for government student loan consolidation

By Ricky Lim

Private Student Loans - Is it What You Need?

Most college students today employ other financing solutions to cover the every day increasing cost of higher education. A student should always start by applying for a federal loan. Federal loans are guaranteed by the federal government and can be used for tuition and fees, room and board and other school charges. Private Student Loans can supplement the student federal loans to help fill in the financial gap.

Some other things to think about is interest rates for your Private Student Loans. Your have to be very careful and look out for those introductory offers that start with a low interest rate and then after a few months or so will skyrocket. You could start with like a 10% interest rate not knowing that it's going to change and then the next year it could be up to 22%.

Federal Loans are more often based on your level of need, a Private Student Loan is based on your credit score. This is mush like the regular everyday loan but many banks and credit unions can offer special education loans for students that have bad credit.

These college students that have bad credit and in some cases don't quite qualify for a federal loan and some Private Loan companies turn them down. Question is what do you do then? You can still get a loan. There are fast student loans, no credit check student loans and direct student loans that provide great options for students with not so good credit.

One of the main problems with getting a Private Student Loan is you have to start repaying it right away. This can be a big problem for some students having to work full time and not studying. On the other hand your Federal Student Loans you have a very flexible repayment plan. In most cases, students do not have to start repaying their loan until they have graduated from college. They even then give you six months after they have graduated.

By Louis Crawford

What is Private Student Loan Consolidation

Loan Consolidation is a great option when one wants to increase ones monthly cashflows. Loan Consolidation merges all your loans into single loan policy thus increases the duration of the loan which as a result reduce monthly payments. Loan consolidation breaks into two types private loan consolidation one dealing with your private loans and federal loan consolidation which deals with your federal loans.

There are dozens of loan consolidators who talk about Private Student Loan Consolidation or Private School Loan Consolidation which are such an effective money management loans that one could save hundreds of dollars with Private Loan Consolidation program. Private Student Loan Consolidation is a great tool that allows borrowers to merge all of their private educational loans into one new loan. Private student loan consolidation benefits you in many ways i.e. reduces your monthly payment, lengthens your repayments period, saves your money as repayment is spread over a longer time period, your monthly payment amount will be lower.

The best time to consolidate student loans is during your grace period or immediately after graduating as it offers your lowest possible interest rates. After graduation, consolidation loans can help ease the complications of repayment by bundling all your private student loans into a single private consolidation loan with one lender and one repayment plan. Having just one easy-to-manage private consolidation loan can save you time and hassle and can even reduce your monthly payment.

By Hassan Raza