http://www.credit-and-debt-counseling.net/student-loan/student-loans/ Student loans are sometimes necessary to get through college, but when you graduate, you're left with a mountain of debt from your student loans. en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT Weblog Editor 2.0 When Susan was ready to go to college, her parents weren't. When she was growing up, her parents made ends meet and had a savings account for emergencies, but there was never enough left to save for her education. Of course, Susan took it for granted that her parents would pay for college. And Susan didn't even try to get scholarships. She was an average student (who could have had better grades had she applied herself) and she didn't hear about many scholarships. (This was before the Internet, so researching options wasn't quite as easy as it is now.) Susan's parents did want to see her go to college, so when she enrolled in college, they went to the financial aid office. Much to their chagrin, her parents learned that they made too much money to qualify for financial aid. "We make too much for financial aid, but not enough to pay for her tuition. Surely we aren't the only parents in this situation. Isn't there anything we can do?" Susan's mom asked the financial aid counselor. At this point, he told Susan's mom about a PLUS loan--that is, a Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students. It covered tuition, books, room and board. Each year a new loan was made, and the payment for each one would be $50 a month ($200 a month by the time the student graduates). Upon graduation, the student takes over the loan. Susan's parents could afford that, so that's how Susan got through college. When Susan was first starting out, trying to get a job, a car and an apartment, a $200 payment for these student loans was almost more than she could handle. And since student loans like the PLUS loan and Stafford loan have variable interest rates, she knew the payments could fluctuate. Eventually, Susan got a job, a car and an apartment, but on her meager entry level salary, she was barely able to get by. One day, she went to lunch with some friends and they started talking about expenses. Susan's friend Bonnie mentioned that the payments from her student loans were killing her. Then Jill piped in with a solution. "I was having the same problem paying my student loans when I heard about federal student loan consolidation. If you get enroll in this kind of plan, you can lock in a low FIXED rate. I got a rate of 1.625% and the payment on my student loans went down 54%! But it only applies to federal student loans, and the fixed rate will be a thing of the past as of July 1, 2005, so you girls better look into it soon if you're interested." That's exactly what Susan did. All of her student loans were combined into one student loan and she also got a low fixed rate like Jill did. Finally, her student loan debt was more affordable, and she could start a savings account. Susan did it, Jill did it, Bonnie did it and you can too. Just make sure you do it before July 1 or you'll live with the regret for the rest of your life! Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT http://www.credit-and-debt-counseling.net/student-loan/student-loans/federal-student-loans/ Federal student loans - Pay them off with ease. Graduate with honors when you consolidate your federal student loans. en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT Weblog Editor 2.0