Wednesday, February 16, 2011

PLUS Loan Consolidation Benefits

A PLUS Loan consolidation offers a way to better manage federal educational loan debts. While most new education funds are issued under the Federal Direct Student Loan Program or FDSLP, there are many students that have multiple loans spread across numerous lenders. Additionally, grad students and professional students that currently have PLUS loans in combination
with other types of federal programs can get significant assistance with a PLUS Loan consolidation. The application process is much different from that of the FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, but the benefits are similar to other federal financial aid.

The most important benefit of a PLUS loan consolidation is the ability to get a lower monthly payment. Because this program works to combine all student loans into one, the resulting monthly payment amount can be significantly reduced. This is especially useful if students or parents are looking to re-amortize their loans and pay them off much more quickly.

Combining all student loans into one also has the benefit of a streamlined monthly payment process. With multiple accounts, students are left to keep track of different lenders, different payment amounts and interest rates, different terms and due dates- it can all get very confusing. But a PLUS loan consolidation alleviates all these concerns with one low monthly payment.

Many people are also able to realize a significant savings on interest paid when they obtain a PLUS Loan consolidation. This is because the spread of interest rates across different accounts can result in a very high overall cost of credit. But once included in this special federal program, one low interest rate of 7.9% or even less is applied to the total amount of debt.

Parents and students alike will continue to enjoy some of the benefits offered when their accounts were with multiple lenders. This includes the ability to defer payments and request forbearances during times of financial difficulty.

If these benefits seem like they can help you, then start saving time and money right now and apply for a PLUS Loan consolidation.

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