Student Loan Consolidation Programs

Representative Jodi Tymeson of Iowa recently headed up a study of student credit card debt and concluded that student loan debt is a much larger problem.

It all sounds a little fishy to me. Iowa and Iowa State Universities had to show up and defend their decision to allow credit card companies to aggressively market to their students before the committee. Tymeson is quoted as saying, "The aggressive marketing of credit cards to students is not as big a problem as we thought.”

What a joke. We all know that credit card debt is not going to be as high as student loan and student loan consolidation debt but what does that mean? NOTHING! We should allow credit card companies to drive our students deeper into an already burdening debt because their student loan debt is higher than their credit card debt? Doesn't sound like anything close to logical to me.

Big business triumphs again and the students loose...imagine that.

Posted by nicod3mus at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Wells Fargo student loan consolidation program program doesn't offer many perks but their customer service is said to be among the best as far as student loan consolidation program lenders are concerned.

Here is what Wells Fargo offers:

Loan experts to help you personally with your needs

Free online account access

No origination, disbursement, or early payment fees.

Posted by nicod3mus at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The ACS student  loan consolidation program seems to offer no real perks.  While some lenders offer interest rate cuts for on-time payments and benefits for having your payment automatically debited from your account, it appears ACS offers nothing.

Posted by nicod3mus at 10:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

0.25% interest rate reduction for using the E-Z Pay plan (having your payments direct debited from your account)

.5% interest rate reduction after 48 on-time payments

Online account management portal

Posted by nicod3mus at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

.025% student loan consolidation program rate reduction if you have your payment automatically debited from you bank account

1% student loan consolidation rate reduction after 36 on time payments

No prepayment fees

No origination fees

Posted by nicod3mus at 09:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Medical student loan consolidation programs are in high demand but keep in mind that there are also incentives for "public service" now available via the new student loan bill.

There are incentives for public health care workers under the new bill that could seriously help reduce those huge student loan consolidation program payments. Every medical student or graduate that has outstanding student loan debt should look into the provisions under the bill.

The public service loan forgiveness is part of the bill that I really like.....and if you ever read the articles here you already know that there is a lot about the bill that I don't like as well. Medical student loan consolidation programs are the first step and here's a link to the public service loan forgiveness specifics.....enjoy!

http://www.finaid.org/loans/forgiveness.phtml

Posted by nicod3mus at 09:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The student loan debt burden weighs very heavy on the veterinary industry. Graduates now have increasingly more student loan debt and it is literally changing the industry. Veterinarians are much less willing to work in mixed or  livestock clinics as the pay is less and they have a huge student loan debt.

Experts across the country agree that student loan debt is taking a toll on rural veterinary clinics. There have been some great articles written on the issue lately that I will link to at the bottom of this article.

The bottom line is that student loan debt and student loan consolidation programs are literally changing our country.  Student's are behind the eight ball from day one. Being from a rural community myself this one really struck a chord with me.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/5233418.html

Posted by nicod3mus at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you have ever talked to anyone about Sallie Mae then you probably know what is coming in this installment. I'll talk about the good and bad related to taking any type of loan from the GIANT lender we call Sallie Mae.

Believe-it-or-not the first 5 results you get when you Google "Sallie Mae reviews" is the Sallie Mae blog talking about how 9 out of 10 borrowers give them strong reviews. Bologna plain and simple. Sallie Mae put some time and effort into making sure that is the first thing you see when you search those keywords....that's about all that it means.

One thing about Sallie Mae that no one can dispute is that they are huge. Good, bad, or indifferent  it's the truth. I argue that it is both good and bad. It's great to have the solidity and the resources that a large lender offers and sometimes it just makes people feel more comfortable with the entire process to use a name that they have heard of. On the other hand I think that there is more bad then good. Horrendous wait times for customer service reps much less than personal service hinder this monolith student loan and student loan consolidation lender.

Sallie Mae is going to be cutting benefits for unsubsidized loans just like everyone else and in my opinion the services and perks offered are pretty normal in comparison to other large lenders. Sacrificing customer service and spending hours on hold is not something I enjoy and when I consider that the actual services offered aren't much different from the other major lenders I know I wouldn't borrow from Sallie Mae again. I would choose a smaller student loan lender that could offer more personal service and an effective customer service solution.

Posted by nicod3mus at 09:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The new state of the student loan and student loan consolidation program industry is both good and bad depending on where you are. Check this one out to see what's going on and how the new bill is effecting the industry.

Bottom Line: If you are an undergraduate who qualifies for federally subsidized student loans or student loan consolidation programs then you are better off now than before the recent bill passed. Most other students won't get any help at all and in fact they are already starting to see perks disappear.

Unsubsidized undergraduate loans remain at 6.8% while the loans parents take out under the PLUS program hold at 8.5%. The biggest lenders are already eliminating interest rate cuts and discounts.

Some states are passing laws to regulate the amount an undergraduate spends on books and attempting to eliminate the bundling of media and study guides with textbooks to again lower the total cost. Unfortunately these small things won't do a lot of good although they do help some.

The student loan industry is changing and we are starting to see some of the negative aspects of the new student loan bill that I have been harping on for months. I'll say it again, the bill is better than nothing but we do not have to take away from middle class students to increase need-based assistance. There is a better way.

Posted by nicod3mus at 09:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Borrower benefits for private student loans are being reduced due to the new College Cost Reduction Act of 2007. I have long criticised the act as the wrong way to reduce the cost of education in this country. The Wall Street journal recently wrote an article outlining how borrower benefits are already being cut as a result of lender subsidy cuts that pay for increases in Stafford, Pell, and othe need based loans.

If you need more money than the need based programs can supply to finish school (and the majority of student do) then you are already falling victim to the new College Cost Reduction Act of 2007. If you don't qualify for the need based programs at all then you are going to get hit the hardest.

The College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 takes money away from lender subsidies to increase the need based assistance that rarely pay for an entire 4 year degree program. In other words it takes from the working and middle class student  in the end.

Here is a great student loan and student loan consolidation program article from the Wall Street Journal Online outlining this very issue.  Here's the link:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119128234857945763.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Posted by nicod3mus at 07:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For a lot of student's going to college is paid for by parents or some other relatives. As the cost of education continues to rise at a ridiculous pace more and more students find themselves with huge student loan debt after graduation. Student loan consolidation programs are definitely an option as many find out when they realize that is about time to start paying.

The guy in this story is not impoverished but he also did not have the money to get through school. Adam spent the majority of the money from his student loans on scholarly pursuits but he did spend a bit on other things which I think is completely normal.

Adam begins to explore the possibility of a student loan consolidation program when he realizes it's about time to pay the piper. All-in-all a great article and a look into the mind of someone facing contemporary student loan issues and considering a student loan consolidation program. I love the fact that Adam's situation appears to be very "normal" and I'm sure a lot of you will identify with him. Here's the link:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/10/01/moneytales.DTL

Posted by nicod3mus at 07:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)