Federal student loan consolidation

In the United States both the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and the Federal Direct Student Loan Program (FDLP) include consolidation loans that allow students to consolidate Stafford Loans, PLUS Loans, and Federal Perkins Loans into one single debt. This results in reduced monthly repayments and a longer term for the loan. Unlike the other loans, consolidation loans have a fixed interest rate for the life of the loan.


Interest rates and payments

Consolidation loans have longer terms than other loans. Debtors can choose terms of 10–30 years. Although the monthly repayments are lower, the total amount paid over the term of the loan is higher than would be paid with other loans. The fixed interest rate is calculated as the weighted average of the interest rates of the loans being consolidated, assigning relative weights according to the amounts borrowed, rounded up to the nearest 0.125%, and capped at 8.25%. Some features of the original consolidated loans, such as postgraduation grace periods and special forgiveness circumstances, are not carried over into the consolidation loan, and consolidation loans are not universally suitable for all debtors


History

The Federal Loan Consolidation Program was created in 1986. In 1998, the United States Congress changed the interest rate to the aforementioned fixed rate weighted mean, effective February 1, 1999. Consolidation loans taken out before that date had a variable interest rate, determined by the individual FDLP loan origination center (e.g., in the case of a university, that university) or FFELP lender (e.g., a third party bank).
In 2005, the Government Accountability Office considered consolidating consolidation loans so that they were exclusively managed through the FDLP. Based on several assumptions about future variations in interest rates, the loan volume, the percentage of defaulters, cost estimates from the United States Department of Education, it concluded that while doing so would incur an additional cost of $46 million, caused by the higher administrative costs of the FDLP compared to the FFELP, this would be offset by a $3,100 million saving comprised in part of avoiding $2,500 million in subsidy costs.

student loan consolidation-overview

There are several types of loans available to students. The simplest categorization is into federal student loans and private loans. Federally funded loans are administered initially through the US Department of Education's Federal Student Aid programs, and are usually the easiest to get student loan consolidation services for. These federal programs disburse about $60 billion a year in loans, work-study support and grants. Stafford loans are the most common form of federal loans for students, but there are a variety of other federal payment plans - among them military / ROTC plans to pay for college.
Private student loans are administered by standard lending institutions. Among the most common are Citibank student loans and the Sallie Mae Signature student loans. These lenders are basically providing unsecured (or in some cases secured) loans to you as a student, and will most often charge higher interest rates than their federal counterparts.
Private and federal loans, along with scholarships, can be combined to fund your education. However, it's important that when it comes time to consolidate student loans, you do not mix the two types together. You should always consolidate your federal loans first, then separately consolidate private student loan debt. The benefits of consolidating your federal loans include: a lower interest rate (usually, but keep in mind that interest rates change every July 1), increasing the time for loan repayment to 30 years which reduces your monthly costs, and reducing the number of lending institutions you send checks to every month.


Trends for student loans

Nearly 50% of recent college graduates took out student loans, with an average borrowed around $10,000 .
Until recently, student loan interest rates ran between 6-8%. Recently, though, rates have fallen very low. As of fall 2003, Stafford loan interest rates were in 3-4% range .
Students who currently have loans, either a single loan or multiple loans, have a variety of options for reducing their payments and indebtedness. Because interest rates have fallen, loans can be consolidated or in some cases refinanced. When you're considering refinancing student loans or student loan consolidation, you need to compare interest rates before you consolidate federal student loans.


Effects of student debt


Like any debt, student loans can influence your credit and your future decisions. Students who borrowed a substantial amount for college (more than $5000) are less likely to pursue higher education .In addition, student loan debt that exceed 8% of your income can be seen negatively when your credit gets assessed for future loans (this is especially true if you have one or more defaulted student loans).
Two ways to reduce the debt burden are: 1) reduce or eliminate the principal balance. Specific types of loans can sometimes be forgiven by service or other higher education - look into the specific student loan program you have. 2) Reduce your monthly payment. Since debt burden is measured by comparing your loan payment to your income, reducing your payment helps your credit evaluation.








References and Links
1. National Center for Education Statistics2. Consolidation recommendations of the University of Michigan Law SchoolSchool loan consolidation - Information on eligibility and rationale for consolidating (or not consolidating) your student loans.Student loan consolidation programs - A variety of specific options, including loan companies and different types of student loan consolidations. Private Student Loans, PLUS loans and Stafford Loans - information on different financial aid and student loan options.