No one can be blamed for wanting to pursue an education, but when a student is looking at a situation where they cannot meet costs related to attending a college or university, more affordable schools need to be an option, an extensive amount of research into scholarships and grants particularly available for a student’s financial background, academic success, and even the degree they are pursuing, as these free sources of financial aid may be more available than some students realize. Yet, aside from seeking out free financial aid or attending a more affordable university, some students may also be able to benefit from taking general education courses at community colleges or more affordable institutions before transferring to the major university of their choice, but also, options like meeting tuition payments throughout the semester rather than one lump sum can also be helpful when it comes to avoiding borrowing student loans.
Two Options
Basically, there are two options that student loan consolidation can do. First, it can lower your monthly bills by joining all your loans into one so you would only pay for a fixed interest rate. Second, it can extend the payment period of your student loan.
This means your monthly bill will be reduced. The first one is suitable if you want to save a significant amount of money. The latter is better if you want immediate relief but with the extension of time this usually means you might pay bigger in total than the first one.
Repaying Student Loans
However, when it comes to repaying student loans, many have found that when they are unemployed this is problematic, if not impossible, for their current situation and if students have federal loans, for example, there are opportunities for either repayment assistance or forbearance that can be helpful.
Students need to research these options as well if they feel like borrowing a loan will be necessary, as the ability to take advantage of student loan consolidation, income-based repayment, forgiveness and forbearance plans should all factor into the type of loan that a student chooses.
Typically, these options are available from federal loans, and there are some private loans that can offer financial assistance as well, but they need to be researched as they may not be as gracious and helpful when it comes to repayment.