Thinking of consolidating your student loans? Choose your Student Loan Consolidator carefully.

If you're faced with a lot of student loan debt after graduation or are expecting to graduate with enormous student loan debt, student loan consolidation may be a way for you to transform your debt into one new repayment package with a lower interest rate and lower monthly payments. Sounds like a great debt management option doesn't it? It can be.

However, it's important that college students (or graduates) are careful of who they decide to consolidate their student loans with. For example, consolidating student loans through the Department of Education or using a student loan company that is a member of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), such as OneSimpleLoan, offer a student a reputation that they can trust. When it comes to customer service, it is thought that student loan consolidators that are members of FFELP can provide superior customer service since it is those companies' choice to consolidate loans for students. Because it is a choice and a livelihood of business, student loan companies that are part of FFELP, and like OneSimpleLoan, offer student loan consolidation tend to invest more time in the quality of their student loan consultants in an effort to provide optimal service and information for students.

It is also important for students to work with a student loan consolidation company that remains up-to-speed on current student loan regulations. This ensures that the students get accurate answers to their questions and know of implications that could affect their financial situation.

Work with a student loan consolidation company that has your best interests at heart. For example, the certified Student Loan Consultants at OneSimpleLoan are up front and personal and will tell students when and if student loan consolidation would be ideal for their particular situation.

So, when it comes to consolidating your student loans (or the thought of it), do a lot of research, consider a reputable FFELP member and turn to a company that offers superior customer service.

Think you're maxed out on Federal student loans? Don't worry!

If you're maxed out on subsidized loans, you may still be eligible for unsubsidized Federal loans or vice versa. If you have not yet maxed out both Federal aid options, fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form to see what other financial aid from your school, such as scholarships or grants, you may still be eligible for.

According to the Federal Government, subsidized and unsubsidized Federal loans have annual limits which increase with each year in school, ranging anywhere from $3,500 to $10,500 a year depending upon your student status.

There are also lifetime limits for subsidized and unsubsidized Federal student loans, from $23,000 for dependent students all the way up to $138,500 for graduate students (even higher for medical students).

If you have maxed out your limits on Federal student loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized), you have the option to apply for private student loans through student loan companies like www.onesimpleloan.com, for example. Many students turn to private student loans because they can be used to pay for virtually all college-related expenses, including tuition, books, laptops, commuting and living expenses, etc. In addition, unlike traditional consumer loans, private loan interest may be tax-deductible; be sure check with your tax advisor for details.

You see, there are always options available to apply for and get the money you need for all your college-related expenses...so don't worry!

Welcome to the only Blog you need for Student Loan Solutions!

OneSimpleLoan, a student borrower advocate, is glad to offer Undergraduate, Graduate, and Professional Degree seeking students a place to get information about the best student loan solutions!

These include:

• Federal Student Loans
• Private Student Loans
• Federal and Private student loan consolidation
  

OneSimpleLoan has been a proud advocate for the student borrower since being a catalyst in the repeal of Single-Holder Rule, in it's case against the U.S. Department of Education in 2005.

If you're looking for advice, news, and updates about student loans or student loan consolidation as it pertains to your education and achieving your educational goals, then make sure to visit us often! Need private student loans or student loan consolidation solutions? Feel free to visit www.onesimpleloan.com anytime to apply for the solutions you need!

College Aid Offices May Not Have Best Loan Deals: John F. Wasik

[Editor's note: OneSimpleLoan® knows that most school student aid offices do a fine job. However, according to the following editorial commentary by John F. Wasik of Bloomberg News, some finanical aid admnistratiors could provide their student borrowers with greater lending options.]

July 31 (Bloomberg) -- When students or parents approach a college financial-aid office for a federal loan, they may not be getting the best possible deal.

Borrowers are often given a ``preferred list'' of lenders certified by the college. You may believe that these are the best loans available since they are chosen by the aid office.

Getting a loan outside of the preferred list may even be discouraged by the college, which is heavily marketed by lenders.

``My client approached a school for a loan and was told by the school that his loan would be processed faster if he went with a lender on the preferred list,'' said John Pearson, a certified public accountant and certified college-planning specialist in Norwalk, Connecticut. ``The preferred system can often deter students from getting the best deal on a loan.''

``Colleges won't tell you that you can get a loan down the street and save money,'' adds Brian Greenberg, a CPA and certified college-planning specialist in Marlton, New Jersey. ``Anything is negotiable. You can get your money anywhere.''

How does a lender get on a school's preferred list? Is there some quid pro quo? The college-controlled lending process has been challenged recently by MyRichUncle.com, which is owned by MRU Holdings Inc., a small specialty finance company with $24 million in student loans through March 31.

Raza Khan, president of the company, alleges through national advertising that lenders offer colleges revenue-sharing deals, or a percentage of the profit of a loan; ``opportunity pools'' of loan money for high-risk borrowers; and gifts and trips to aid officials.

`Shop Around'
``We'd like to see the preferred lender list go away,'' Khan says. ``The students are not always getting the best deal. The only way they can do better is to shop around and compare.''

``The preferred lender lists are at the root of all of the allegations regarding these improprieties,'' said Henry Howard, a former college-aid officer and chief executive officer of U.S. Education Finance Group, a student-loan company based in Miami. ``The preferred lists are no longer necessary and should be eliminated.''

Doubtless, smaller lenders are peeved that they don't have unfettered access to borrowers through aid offices. There are plenty of finance companies and banks that want to do business directly with colleges.

For lenders, the Federal Family Education Loan Program is not only highly profitable, it's virtually risk-free because of government guarantees. At present, federal and private loans constitute an $86 billion business, accounting for 39 percent of the $222 billion spent on higher education. As college becomes costlier, more students turn to borrowing.

Competition for Loans
Yet does the preferred system quash competition because only the largest companies with marketing clout are represented?

Dallas Martin, a former aid official at three colleges and president of the Washington-based National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, which represents college aid officials, said while he estimates that 60 percent of universities have preferred programs, ``the vast majority of institutions are trying to look out for what's best for students. They don't want to send them off to a place that's not best for them. It could come back to haunt the institution.''

Doing pay-for-play deals, or offering ``inducements'' for student-loan business, is forbidden under the federal Higher Education Act.

The U.S. Education Department's Office of Inspector General, the agency's watchdog, has investigated potential abuses involving lender incentives to colleges. The office only probed two schools in 2003, issuing an ``alert memorandum'' to Sally Stroup, assistant secretary of education.

Lender Inducements
``Our review concluded there are bargaining practices between schools and lenders for federal preferred loan status,'' the Aug. 1, 2003, memo to Stroup stated.

More recently, Catherine Grant, a spokeswoman for the inspector general's office, stated in an e-mail that it found ``no specific evidence of improper lender inducements and does not have any audits or inspections under way following up on this issue at this time.''

Nevertheless, the inspector recommended that the Education Department ``re-evaluate the anti-inducement provision of the Higher Education Act.''

Martin, who said he is aware of opportunity pools and acknowledges that finance companies may entertain aid officials and appoint them to advisory boards, notes colleges are ``bombarded with lenders.''

Ways to Save
``We've heard of abuses and referred them to the Department of Education, and the department has gone after them. A lot of it is hearsay. But providing gifts to colleges is clearly outside the law. In the final analysis, if a school refuses to certify a loan, it should be reported to the department.''

While most aid administrators are probably acting ethically, don't assume that your college will give you the best deal.

Say you borrowed $20,000 through a 10-year federal loan at 6.8 percent annually. You'd pay $230 a month for total payments of $27,619, which includes $7,619 in interest.

Drop the rate on your loan 1 percentage point and you save $10 a month but $1,214 in total interest. Discounts are available if you compare lenders. The Internet is a good place to start.

With the recent increase in federal-loan rates, it's essential to ask questions:
-- Does your college receive any inducements from lenders? If so, these incentives should be disclosed.

Repayment Fees
-- Do the loans you're applying for have any pre-payment penalties? What would trigger the loan adjusting to a higher rate? Avoid loans with added expenses such as repayment or insurance fees.

-- What kinds of discounts apply to your loans? Can you get a rebate of origination fees or discounts for using auto-debits or paying on time? Keep in mind that the best loan terms are offered to borrowers with the best credit rating.

Although most colleges trumpet academic freedom, that sentiment may not apply to students trying to find the best loan deal on campus. Keep in mind that no matter what the college recommends, you're free to obtain better terms elsewhere.

(John F. Wasik, author of ``The Merchant of Power,'' is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

Consolidate Your Student Loans Now, Before July 1, 2006:

To help fund the No Child Left Behind Act as well as reduce the Federal deficit, President Bush and Congress have changed student loan consolidation provisions of the Higher Education Act, with the added Deficit Reduction Act, to take effect July 1, 2006.

Specifically:

• Interest rates - GOING UP!

• Spousal consolidation loans - GONE!

• In-school consolidation loans - GONE!


If you want to take advantage of these consolidation options before July 1, 2006, please apply now. We'll work with you to maximize grace period and other repayment options that'll be in your best interest.

Ever Wonder Why Student Loan Laws Are the Way Are? Some Insights...

SALLIE MAE CELEBRATING HUGE WIN IN CONGRESS ON STUDENT LOANS

(Credit to http://www.freemarketnews.com)

If you are at all interested in education, politics or economics, you will probably want to take a couple of minutes from your busy schedule to ponder this matter.

And this isn't about the economic decision Congress recently made to raise interest rates on new student loans.

As much as that decision will hurt students and parents, this change is worse.

They're reducing competition in the marketplace.

For years students and parents have converted their variable rate federally guaranteed college loans into fixed-rate federally guaranteed consolidation loans to lock-in favorable interest rates, in much the same way that homeowners do with their mortgages. And for the same reasons.

But when the new laws, which were just passed as a part of the Budget Deficit Act, go into effect this July, the vast majority of students and parents who have already consolidated, or do so in the future, will be legally barred from ever refinancing again, no matter what other lender later offers them a lower rate.

Legally barred from ever refinancing? Yes. And there's much more to the story.

Borrowers whose loans are owned by a single lender have always been prohibited from shopping around for the best deal when it came time to consolidate. Congress has been promising to repeal that anticompetitive law, know as the Single Holder Rule, but the proposal was mysteriously dropped from Budget Deficit Act at the very last minute.

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Terry Savage, in her February 6, 2006, column nicely summed up the refinancing issue with this question: "If you can refinance your mortgage to take advantage of lower rates, why not your student loan?"

Savage went on to point out that some people would argue that because the government is subsidizing student loans, open market refinancing is not appropriate.

But the facts are well documented: Under the just repealed laws allowing reconsolidation, lenders, not the taxpayers, absorbed the cost of lower rates offered to borrowers. And every government report on the subject clearly documents the fact that the lower the interest rate and monthly payment, the lower the default rate.

Finally, Savage asks, "If refinancing to a lower rate doesn't cost the government any money, why object?"

That's a very good question. And, so far, it appears that the only objections to the concept of open market refinancing are coming from Sallie Mae and the other big lenders who don't want the lure of lower rates tempting their customers to switch to competitors.

Nevertheless, the laws allowing reconsolidation were repealed.

Can you imagine the uproar if homeowners were suddenly told that they could no longer refinance their home loans?

But in the lawmaker's defense, the Budget Deficit Act contained hundreds of pages of changes to current law. So, it's not really fair to say that the lawmakers who voted "yes" on the Budget Deficit Act were actually voting "no" on reconsolidation. In fact, the American Journal recently reported that very few Senators and House Members were even aware of the issue. And the few that had heard about it were incorrectly led to believe that the just repealed reconsolidation provisions were somehow costing the taxpayers money.

Then, adding insult to injury, Sallie Mae, like a football player spiking a ball after a game-winning touchdown, began celebrating. Tom Joyce, a Sallie Mae VP, was quoted as by USA TODAY as saying, "The consolidation loan program was never meant to be a refinancing bonanza for students." And later, his crowing got even louder when he told the Orlando Sentinel, "Smaller corporations will now think twice about getting into the student loan business."

Those ugly statements by Sallie Mae's chief media spokesperson seem to confirm what some industry insiders already suspected: Sallie Mae pretends to have the best interests of the students and parents at heart, while they covertly work to pass anticompetitive legislation that will end up costing students and parents billions of dollars. That's right, billions of dollars.

And the billions lost to higher interest rates resulting from this type of restriction- of-trade legislation will never show up in the Congressional Budget Office cost estimates that everyone in Washington is always quoting.

If you are wondering where those dollars end up, you only need to look as far as the bottom line of Sallie Mae's income statement. That's why they have lobbied so hard for these restrictions. And as of now, they are winning most of the battles and the war.

This story graphically emphasizes the immediate necessity of Republicans and Democrats joining together to reinstate open competition in this very important marketplace. And when it comes to Sallie Mae's requests for legal trade restrictions, perhaps it's time they become reacquainted with two very important letters: N and O. And I am not referring to the abbreviation for New Orleans.

Senator Lamar Alexander, the former Secretary of Education, in recent testimony before the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, said, "I urge you to join me on the bandwagon for deregulation of higher education. The greatest threat to the quality of American higher education is not under-funding. It is over-regulation."

The House of Representatives will soon have a new chair of the committee that oversees student loans. Buck McKeon will be replacing John Boehner, who was just elected House Majority Leader. McKeon is known as a tough and fair-minded businessman who is likely to give this issue a fair hearing. But first, he must hear from someone besides Sallie Mae.

If you want to join Senator Alexander on the bandwagon, please let Mr. McKeon and your U.S. Senators and Congresspersons know that you believe students and parents should be afforded the same rights as homeowners when it comes to refinancing.

You may reach any Senatorial or Congressional office by calling 202-224-3121.

Student Loan Consolidation — It's Your Right, So Take Advantage of It!

A personal note from Paul Simino, President of Loan Consolidation for Profressionals of America ("LCPA"):

Does this sound like your situation? If you're about to graduate college or graduate school, weighed down by the burden of repaying student loans, there is a solution!

Read on...

"My best friend is in his last year in residency...he was on a 7-year track and incurred over $256,000 in Federal Student Loans and another $60,000 in private loans.

He was only making $65K, so he was starting to second-guess the decision he made to become a dermatologist. He was struggling to make payments on his student loans. On top of that, he had no idea how he was going to continue paying his school debt and try to open up his own independent practice.

Fortunately, the government offers payment postponements — deferment and forbearance. By consolidating his loans, my friend was able to extend his repayment term from 10 years to 30 years, which significantly lowered his monthly payments. Further, he qualified for an economic hardship deferment which allowed him to postpone payments on his loans for 3 years!"

That's why Loan Consolidation for Professionals of America ("LCPA") came into being: given my friend's situation, we knew there had to be an alternative solution.

For all you medical residents, interns and fellows, for all you law students, doctoral candidates, for all you nursing, pharmacy and other health care students, in fact, for any of you with student loans — do not dismay!

There is a solution, along with many tools and resources available to help you manage your student loan debt responsibly and plan for your financial future as a doctor, lawyer, professional (or Indian chief -- sorry!).

That solution is student loan consolidation.

Our advice is free and so is the government's program. We as taxpayers pay for it, so you should take advantage of the rights you have as a federal loan borrower. Your debt is an investment in both your future and the future of your profession in this country.

It is our mission to ensure you have well informed, objective, unbiased resources at your disposal. Hopefully, LCPA serves as one of those resources. Any questions that anyone has, please feel free to email me personally or reply to this post....

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Paul Simino, President
Loan Consolidation for Professionals of America
http://www.onesimpleloan.com
psimino@onesimpleloan.com • 1-877-OneSimpleLoan (877-663-7467)
Simplified Loan Solutions!
Student Loan Consolidation • Reconsolidation • Federal Student Loans
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Deferment while in Medical School? Yes!

Did you know that you can take advantage of student loan deferment and/or forbearance while you are in medical school and/or in residency?

There are differect criteria for both circumstances:

1) Medical School
Rule (see http://www.onesimpleloan.com/medical_loans.asp)
As long as you are attending a Title IV eligible institution for 6 credit hours or more, your loans are eligible for an in-school deferment status.

2) Medical Residency
Many Rules (see http://www.onesimpleloan.com/forms.asp)
This link will bring you to two links for Deferment and Forbearance. Click on the appropriate link to find out what criteria is required for either payment postponement option.

Recent College Grads - Maximize Your Savings and Maintain Your Grace Period

If you recently graduated and are still in your grace period (i.e., you have not started repaying your loans), you may be eligible to get an additional 0.60% interest rate reduction for the life of your loans.

Don't delay - this special rate reduction could save you thousands of dollars. You can also request to maintain your grace period while locking in the lowest rate.

Call 1-877-663-7467 or email us at consolidate@onesimpleloan.com.