Comments on: Student Loan Loophole to Close

By: Loan Modification

Loan Modification — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:03:00 +0000

College is becoming increasingly difficult to afford. Nice post.
Borrowing money for college is a big responsibility but college remains a smart investment for obtaining a satisfying career that earns a competitive salary.

By: Student Loan Consolidation

Student Loan Consolidation — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:52:00 +0000

This is an excellent post and great pointers in the comments that follow. The ramifications of taking out student loans should be seriously considered. Hopefully our new president will be able to address the situation that students face when taking out these loans from banks who make the most out of these loans.

By: Poly Muthumbi

Poly Muthumbi — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:43:00 +0000

WhenCOLLEGE a student and his or her parents opt for these federally or privately offered college student loans, a few think about the life after four years or whatever number a given course takes.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:11:00 +0000

I just wanted to thankyou for a thought provoking blog. I did not concur with all of your comments, but I found it idea generating. I will be referencing it in my accoutancy coursework case study homework, where I have been asked to compare the research at http://www.thefinanceowl.com/ with other popular financial blogs. I will be referencing your page and look forward to revisiting your site. Apologies if this academic comment is not what you normally look for.
Yours faithfully
maggie

By: Chad

Chad — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:29:00 +0000

In your article, you specified only wanted government student loans only, so I will delve into this after mentioning this: the U.S. government has a direct loans programs (FFDSLP), which through lenders, gives students loans in the form of a check. This money can then be used for whatever is necessary to fund your education. The rates on these loans are extrememly attractive to students. A comparison of all these types of loans can be found at http://www.schoolloans.com/. At the same website, a comparison and contact for all lenders of private student loans is also available. I used the site and had a ton of lenders contact me in a few days, with so many offers, I virtually had banks negotiating through me with other banks on who could offer better terms. My guidance counselor told me to do this, so today I can’t thank him enough.
Private student loans can carry higher interest rates than federal loans, but with your great standing before applying for the loan, you will easily be able to find loan terms similar, if not, better than the federal government offerings. Choosing a company that would “be best” really comes down to dollars and cents…compare the loan rates, repayment terms, and the amount of money necessary to repay in the future on a monthly basis and an overall basis. Basically, any bank will offer a hassle-free process if this what you are looking for as well. Hope this is helpful, but I know for me personally, it worked like a charm and still does every semester I need a new loan.

By: noktor

noktor — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 05:03:00 +0000

Nelnet Agrees to Pay $2 Million To Settle With New York Officials

July 31, 2007 6:18 p.m.
OMAHA, Neb. — Student loan company Nelnet Inc. has agreed to pay $2 million and will quit offering two services as part of a settlement with the New York state attorney general’s office.
Officials at the Lincoln-based company disclosed the settlement Tuesday in a call with financial analysts. Nelnet agreed to abide by an industry code of conduct developed by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Nelnet officials also predicted Tuesday that the student loan business will become less profitable once new rules Congress is considering are approved, which could hurt borrowers.

http://studentloan2007.blogspot.com

By: Samownall

Samownall — Thu, 03 May 2007 17:47:00 +0000

Hey.
Just starting up a new review site for student loan consolidation. Was wondering if you would mind linking to it. I have taken the liberty of already placing a link on mine to yours and hope that this is ok. Please contact me if it is not.

Student loan consolidation advice

Thanks,
Sam H

By: maria

maria — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 20:23:00 +0000

I believe in comparison. I don’t know what consolidation options are best for everyone else. Who I consolidated with may not be the best lender for you. That’s why I think people should be as informed as possible. Check out different lenders’ sites and take time to understand what consolidation means. Have you noticed that lender sites will say “low interest rates” or “managable monthly payments”? Where are the real numbers? I understand that it mostly depends on your credit score, but why not give us borrowers the lows and the highs of their rates? Before you take out a loan, compare. I don’t recommend a lender, as I said before, but I do recommend a place to get some unbiased information: http://www.simpletuition.com . This site helped me compare multiple loans options from mulptiple lenders. My favorite part about these guys is that they aren’t lenders! SimpleTuition is objective and free to use for student loan comparison.

By: Cash Advance Payday Loan Online

Cash Advance Payday Loan Online — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 03:09:00 +0000

hi there. making updates or news about college consolidation especially in school stafford loan consolidation.

now, i got a site to recommend for this, you can click here to see the site.

may this help everyone.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 15:18:00 +0000

If you have education loans you have probably been bombarded with phone calls and mail from companies trying to get you to consolidate your loans. Let's face it---students have high debt and there are a lot of predatory companies out there who would love to get their hands on that money! So, if you want to consolidate who do you trust?
Some things that may help you determine who is just out for your money---

1. The best place to start is with people who are not in the business for money.

Who might that be? Nonpofit lenders! Every state has the ability to designate a nonprofit lender for its residents. These nonprofit lenders are required by the state to give their profits back to the state, often to fund education.
Also, because nonprofits are state-funded or use "tax exempt" money---they have a lower cost of funds which often translates into lower cost loans for borrowers.

There are some great benefits and significant loan savings out there for you. Just make sure you understand exactly what you need to do to earn the benefit and then what you need to do to keep the benefit.

2. Some lenders make false promises. If you see a lender advertising any of these tricks below you can be sure they are not looking out for your best interest:

“In-Grace” Reduced Interest Rate

Some lenders offer a reduced interest rate during a borrower’s "in-grace" period. You save 0.6% on your interest rate if you consolidate while you are still in school or in your grace period (six-month period between when a borrower leaves school and a loan becomes due).

The federal government sets the interest rates on Stafford and PLUS loans. Stafford in school/in grace rate is 4.7%. When your loan goes into repayment the federal rate is 5.3%. The difference between these two rates is 0.6%. As you probably figured out---this is not a deal someone is offering you--- it is something you are entitled to receive from the federal loan program!

Fine Print

Many lenders offer benefits such as: If you make 24 on-time consecutive monthly payments you can earn and interest rate reduction. The exact terms of the offer are usually in fine print. Be careful you understand what you have to do to earn and keep the benefit. In some cases the lender reserves the right to change or take away the benefit if you are even one day late on a payment at any time until the loan is paid in full! This could mean 10, maybe 20 years of payments!! Some lenders even require that all communications have to be done electronically. If at any time an e-mail is returned as invalid they reserve the right to take that benefit away!
Remember, read the fine print, ask questions and get it in writing!

Some useful websites:
Student Lending Works

www.studentlendingworks.org