Become a Loan Consolidation Student, if you’re about to graduate you may want to start thinking about becoming a Loan Consolidation Student early that way are ahead of the game. Every Loan Consolidation Student has a six month grace period after graduation before payments begin, but the consolidation loan application process can take several weeks, especially if you haven't gathered all your loan information and decided on a lender. It can take many weeks to get through the loan process, however when it comes to repaying your loan the lender gives you six months after you graduate to start pay back your student loan consolidation. Inventory your student loans. Document all your loans, including type of loan, lender, the amount of your loans, interest rates and the amount of your payments. Review your loan documents, contact your lenders or loan servicers or go to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) website. Hopefully you never lose your pin number but if you do, you can ask for a new one and they send it to you. Expect to wait a week or two for the PIN to arrive, so best to get it done early.

Add up If you are currently in a repayment status, you will know your exact monthly payments. However, if you are still in school or in your grace period, you should estimate your monthly non-consolidated loan payment based on the current interest rates and your loan balance. If you’re still going to school or still in your grace period, you can estimate your non-consolidated loan payment using the balance and interest of your loan. Your lender can also provide you with the details of finding the approximate amount of your monthly repayment. What's a Budget? Though many people wander through life from paycheck to paycheck without knowing where their money is going, you really need to set up a budget to see if student loan consolidation is for you. Once you have that first job, determine a reasonable amount of your income that can be allocated to your student loan payments. This percentage should be based on a realistic budget. Be sure you are comfortable with the payment amount you choose.

Sometimes you’ll find that your budget isn’t working out as planned, if that becomes the case just go over it again until it makes good financial sense. Can you trim any areas of your budget? Can you increase your income? If your money issue is temporary, look for a simple solution, maybe a job or deferment. Select loans for consolidation. Determine which of your loans are eligible for federal consolidation. A number of loan consolidation student loans can be consolidated in addition to Stafford and Private student loans are not eligible to be consolidated through the Federal consolidation programs. You might lose some discharge or cancellation benefits or deferment benefits if you include certain types of loans in your loan consolidation student loan like Federal Perkins Loans, for example. You can contact the holders of your loans to find out what the impact of your loan consolidation student will be on your current benefits. If you want to consolidate your loans try going through the Federal Direct Loan Consolidation Program. You can get the application online.

If you have graduated, but are still in the grace period, begin the consolidation process approximately two months before the end of the grace period. This will allocate enough time to have your loan consolidation student loan processed before the grace period expires, yet not so early that you lose too much of your grace period if you have a FFEL consolidation loan. (If you consolidate FFEL loans during the grace period, you will give up whatever portion of your grace period remains. You get to keep all of your grace period, even if you get a Direct Consolidation Loan.) Some FFEL lenders offer to hold off on disbursement of consolidation loans until the end of the grace period to give borrowers opportunity to minimize their interest rate and maximize their grace period. Check with your lender to be certain. Remember that if you consolidate during your grace period, you can lock in an interest rate at least a half percent lower than the current repayment rate. Most banks will grant you a discounted rate if you agree to sign up for auto- pay and make a certain number of consecutive on time payments, about 36 of them. When filling out the consolidation application, make sure you provide all your complete and correct addressand personal information, you may be asked to include two references, and sign the promissory note. Ignore any of these and you will delay the processing of your application. If you are already in repayment, continue making payments on your loans until consolidation is the completed application. If you need immediate payment relief you can always ask the lender for a deferment or forbearance until you are able to start repayment or until your deferment time is up.

By: Vernosha Anderson