Student Loan Consolidation Program: Secrets To Clear College Debts Without Stress

Mar 18
09:11

2013

Devora Witts

Devora Witts

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Clearing student debts is not a menial task, with 5 or more debts to repay making it an extremely stressful task. But with a student loan consolidation program things can be made a lot easier.

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Bad credit borrowers rarely take time to consider the range of discounts that are available to them. The lending industry is extremely competitive,Student Loan Consolidation Program: Secrets To Clear College Debts Without Stress Articles so lenders offer incentives to attract borrowers. Even when a student, heavily laden with college debt, seeks a student loan consolidation program, there are benefits that can lighten the load greatly.Of course, repaying college debts is not something to be taken lightly. It is not unusual for students to graduate from college facing debts of as high as $50,000, and with limited income, repayments can often be too much. But through a consolidation program, everything is cleared with one loan, with lower interest rates and improved terms that make the debt more manageable.Still, there are other advantages to be had too, not just lower interest rates. With the right terms, repaying these student loans can become affordable, but there are certain secrets to getting the most out of even the best deal.Extend The Loan TermIt is not complicated, and lenders tend to be open to it. What is it? Requesting that the lifetime (or term) of the student loan consolidation program be extended. This is because the term of the loan affects the number of monthly repayments to be made, which in turn decides on the size of each repayment.It is not unusual to be offered a 10-year program, but lenders would be willing to extend it to perhaps 15 or 20 years, because it means they receive more in interest, and therefore make higher profit. There are some lenders who may suggest 35 or 40 years, making repaying college debts extremely easy. In these cases, interest rates are lowered to entice borrowers to accept the lengthy commitment.But even if the longer term means more is paid in interest, the key point is that the monthly repayments on the consolidation loan are easily affordable. So, the student loans are paid off with the minimum financial of stress.Identify the Extra DiscountsThe growth of online lenders means that part of the financial sector is extremely competitive. In order to keep one step ahead, lenders offer incentives to keep the flow of borrowers running. For example, when it comes to student loan consolidation programs, borrowers might be given a discount when they meet a specific milestone.Usually, these are in the form of lower interest rates, so the lender will reduce the interest charged once they have cleared a certain amount of the debt. Lenders also offer better terms if a borrower agrees to an auto-debit repayment scheme, where the lender is permitted to take repayments automatically from a bank account.So, even with the initial student loans repaid, staying on track and meeting the milestones when repaying college debts can lead to some serious savings being made. But make sure the interest charged is at a fixed rate, as this is ideal for budgeting.Other Points to ConsiderDespite the great discounts and incentives on offer, there are still plenty of penalties to accrue if repayments are not kept up. But not all of these are legal. For example, early repayment of a student loan consolidation program should not incur a penalty. Basically, student borrowers cannot be punished for repaying their debts early.Lenders try to make borrowers feel they are being done a favor, so will sometimes tell them that discounts are special deals for them only. But this is not true either; no lender is going to offer discounts that eat into their profit margins.Clearly, while repaying college debts is not always an easy task to manage, there are huge advantages to repaying through a consolidation program. But remember that regardless of the size of the student loans to be cleared, it is always possible to reduce it to a manageable and inexpensive load.