Top tips to Student Loan for Recent Graduates

Top tips to Student Loan  for Recent Graduates

If you passed just recently  graduated, or taking a break from school, or have already started or apllyed repaying your student loans, these tricks are very help full for you and you can keep your student loan debt under control. That means avoiding fees and extra interest costs, keeping your payments affordable, and protecting your credit rating. If you' are having trouble for finding a job or keeping up with your payment, here are some important guides  for you.


1 # . Keep Touch with Your Lender: Whenever you move or change your phone or mobile numbers or email address, Must tell your lender right away. If your lender needs to contact you and your information is not current, it can end up costing you a bundle. Open and read every piece of mails or sms  paper or electronic,  that you receive about your student loans. If you're getting unwanted calls from your lender or a collection agency, don't stick up your head in the sand  talk to your lender. Lenders are supposed to work with borrowers to resolve problems, and collection agencies have to follow certain rules. Ignoring bills or serious problems can lead to default, which has severe, long terms consequences.

 When you make a federal student loan payment, it covers any late fees first, then interest, and finally the principal. If you can afford to pay more than your required monthly payment - every time or now and then - you can lower your principal, which reduces the amount of interest you have to pay over the life of the loan. Include a written request to your lender to make sure that the extra amount is applied to your principal! Otherwise it will automatically be applied to future payments instead. Keep copies for your records and check back to be sure the overpayment was applied correctly.

2 # 1. Knowladge about Your Loans: It is important to keep track of the lender, balance, and repayment status for each of your student loans. These details determine your options for loan repayment and forgiveness. If you are not sure, ask your lender or visit www.nslds.ed.gov. You can log in and see the loan amounts, lender(s), and repayment status for all of your federal loans. If some of your loans  not listed here, they're probably private (non-federal) loans.  For those, try to find a recent billing statement or the original paperwork that you signed. Contact your school if you cannot locate any records.

Private loans are not eligible for IBR or the other federal loan payment plans, deferments, forbearances, or forgiveness programs.  However, the lender may offer some type of forbearance, typically for a fee, or you may be able to make interest-only payments for some period of time. Read your original private loan paperwork carefully and then talk to the lender about what repayment options you may have.

here are some more informations about (IBR)
Select the Right Repayment Option: When your federal loans come due, your loan payments will  be automatically based on a standard 10-year repayment plan. If the standard payment is going to be hard for you to handle, there are other options, and you can change plans move down the line if you want or need to. Extending your repayment period beyond 10 years can lower your monthly payments, but you'll end up paying more interest - often a lot more -over the life of the loan. One important option is the Income-Based Repayment program. It can be cap your monthly payment at a reasonable percentage of your income each years, and forgive any debt remaining after 25 years of affordable payments. Forgiveness may be available after just 10 years of these payments for borrowers in the public and nonprofit sectors.

Private loans are not eligible for IBR or the other federal loan payment plans, deferments, forbearances, or forgiveness programs.  However, the lender may offer some type of forbearance, typically for a fee, or you may be able to make interest-only payments for some period of time. Read your original private loan paperwork carefully and then talk to the lender about what repayment options you may have.


If you have high student loan debt, a low income level, or both, it can be difficult to follow a standard repayment schedule. Income-based repayment (IBR) may be able to help you.

IBR bases your payments on your income and family size—essentially customizing your payments to your situation.
How It Works

    * You must display partial financial hardship to qualify for IBR.
    * Hardship is determined by reviewing your monthly payment amount of all your eligible loans under standard repayment against your discretionary income.
    * If you qualify, your payments will be capped at no more than 15% of your discretionary income.
    * Your repayment amount could change annually, based on changes in your financial situation.
    * There is no minimum payment with IBR.
    * You are still responsible for interest that builds up over the length of your payment period.
    * After 25 years of repayment and 300 eligible payments, any outstanding balance will be forgiven. (It is possible to repay the loan in full before 25 years have passed.)

Or
Income-Based Repayment (IBR) is a new way to make your federal student loan payments more manageable.  And if you're a teacher or work in government or at a nonprofit (501(c)(3)) organization, you might qualify for a new type of public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) after 10 years of eligible payments and employment.

3 #  Knowladge Your Grace Period: Different loans have different grace periods. A grace period is how long you can wait after leaving school before you have to make your first payment. It's six months for federal Stafford loans, but nine months for federal Perkins loans. For federal PLUS loans, it depends on when they were issued (see details). The grace periods for private student loans vary, so consult your paperwork or contact your lender to find out.  Don't miss your first payment!

Unfortunately, it sometimes happens that students find it difficult to find work immediately following graduation and find it impossible to make payments against their federal loans. Other financial challenges may also make it difficult for student to maintain their payment schedule. When this occurs, it is possible for students to receive a deferment or to qualify for a forbearance on certain government loans. Qualifying borrowers can receive a further six month's to a year's grace before recommencing their repayment plans. Deferments may also be granted if a student returns to school to complete another level of their education.

Students holding federal loans must confirm that their deferment has been granted before they stop making payments on any outstanding student loan. Ceasing payments before your deferment has been granted will result in your loan going into default. At all costs students should avoid default proceeding, as this will seriously damage their credit and will make it impossible to qualify for any additional student loans.

During their student loan grace period, many students consider consolidation as a way to reduce their monthly payments and to more easily manage their debt responsibilities. Loan consolidation allows students to combine multiple student loans into a single, more easily managed, loan package. By consolidating you federal student loans you can reduce your payment obligations to a single monthly bill, often while securing your new loan at a more attractive low fixed interest rate.

Students considering loan consolidation should be aware that not all education loans can be consolidated. Some loans forbid consolidation outright, while others simply can not be consolidated with loans from different sources. Consult your loan officer, and your loan agreement to learn if you are eligible for student loan consolidation.

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4 # . Don't Panic: If you're having trouble making payments because of unemployment, health problems, or other unexpected financial challenges, remember that you have options for managing your federal student loans. There are legitimate ways to temporarily postpone your federal loan payments, such as deferments and forbearance. For example, an unemployment deferment might be the right choice for you if you're having trouble finding work right now. But beware: interest accrues on all types of loans during forbearances, and on some types of loans during deferment, increasing your total debt, so ask your lender about making interest-only payments if you can afford it.

If you expect your income to be lower than you'd hoped for more than a few months, check out Income-Based Repayment. Your required payment in IBR can be as little as $0 when your income is very low..

5 # .. Stay out of Trouble! Ignoring your student loans has serious consequences that can last a lifetime. Not paying can lead to delinquency and default. For federal loans, default kicks in after nine months of non-payment. When you default, your total loan balance becomes due, your credit score is ruined, the total amount you owe increases dramatically, and the government can garnish your wages and seize your tax refunds if you default on a federal loan. For private loans, default can happen much more quickly and can put anyone who co-signed for your loan at risk as well. Talk to your lender right away if you're in danger of default.

6 #  Lower Your Principal if You Can: When you make a federal student loan payment, it covers any late fees first, then interest, and finally the principal. If you can afford to pay more than your required monthly payment - every time or now and then - you can lower your principal, which reduces the amount of interest you have to pay over the life of the loan. Include a written request to your lender to make sure that the extra amount is applied to your principal! Otherwise it will automatically be applied to future payments instead. Keep copies for your records and check back to be sure the overpayment was applied correctly.

7 # Pay Off the Most Expensive Loans First: If you're considering paying off one or more of your loans ahead of schedule, or trying to reduce the principal, start with the one that has the highest interest rate. If you have private loans in addition to federal loans, start with your private loans, since they almost always have higher interest rates and lack the flexible repayment options and other protections of federal loans.

 A consolidation loan combines multiple loans into one for a single monthly payment and one fixed interest rate. If this is appealing, here are some pros and cons to consider. You can consolidate your federal student loans through the Direct Loan program, and this calculator can help you figure out what your interest rate would be. For private consolidation loans, shop around carefully for a low or fixed interest rate if you can find one, and read all the fine print. Never consolidate federal loans into a private student loan, or you'll lose all the repayment options and borrower benefits - like unemployment deferments and loan forgiveness programs - that come with federal loans.

8 #  Loan Forgiveness: There are various programs that will forgive all or some of your federal student loans if you work in certain fields or for certain types of employers. Public Service Loan Forgiveness is a new federal program that forgives any student debt remaining after 10 years of qualifying payments for people in government, nonprofit, and other public service jobs.  Find out more at www.IBRinfo.org. There are other federal loan forgiveness options available for teachers, nurses, AmeriCorps and PeaceCorps volunteers, and other professions, as well as some state, school, and private programs and you have some quistion in your mind about  Loan Forgiveness.


( A )  What about some advice for those who are drowning in tens of thousands of dollars in PRIVATE student loans which you can’t put on the income-based repayment or public service loan forgiveness program? Oh wait…there is none! They are basically pay-or-default loans, and as of 2005, Congress stripped away bankruptcy rights on these loans. These loans will literally crawl into the grave with you! Something needs to be done NOW to allow one to combine these loans with federal loans to qualify for income based repayment or restore bankruptcy rights so people can be given a second chance to live their lives!


You are right that borrowers with private student loans have fewer options than those with federally guaranteed student loans. There are some efforts in Congress to change the law so that it won’t be so difficult to expunge private student loans in bankruptcy, but there is no guarantee that they will succeed. In the meantime, your best bet is to call your private loan servicer and try to work out an affordable payment plan.

A Sallie Mae spokeswoman adds the following: “While private student loans do not guarantee repayment entitlements available on some federal loans, we work with our customers one-on-one if they experience financial difficulty. As appropriate, we customize assistance using a variety of tools – in some circumstances that means modified loan terms, lower interest rates, good-faith catch up programs or temporary suspension of the requirement to make payments. Since 2009, we have modified $1.1 billion in private education loans with interest rate reductions or extended repayment terms.



( B ) List government work programs that will pay off student debt in return for service ?


There is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, under which qualified employees can have the remaining balances of their loans forgiven after 10 years of on-time payments.

According to Department of Education, any full-time government job qualifies, whether it’s federal, state or local, and so do full-time jobs for nonprofit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501 (c)(3) of the federal tax code.

Furthermore, some other private nonprofits may qualify if they provide certain public services, like emergency management, military service, public safety, law enforcement, public health services, public education, public library services, school library and other school-based services, public interest law, early childhood education, public service of individuals with disabilities and the elderly. Labor unions and partisan political groups do not qualify.

Religious organizations don’t quality either, which rabbinical students and seminarians don’t like.

( C )  What loans are eligible for forgiveness?


Only loans you received under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program are eligible for public service loan forgiveness. Loans you received under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program (in which the government guarantees loans made by banks and which was ended in 2010), the Perkins Loan Program or any other student loan program are not eligible for the forgiveness program.

If you have FFEL and/or Perkins loans, you may consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan to take advantage of public service forgiveness. However, only payments you make on the new consolidated loan will count toward the 120-month payment requirement for the forgiveness program. Payments made on your FFEL or Perkins loans, even if they were made under a qualifying repayment plan, do not count as qualifying public service loan forgiveness payments.


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