The
best private consolidation loans offer lower interest rates than federal loans, and if you are a highly qualified borrower, then you are more likely to receive these lower rates.
But
while private consolidation loans are pretty easy to secure, with lenders viewing them as another loan from which to profit, federal programs are a different matter.
This borrower (Borrower A) has excellent credit and can secure
a private consolidation loan with an interest rate of 3.7 %.
Federal and
private consolidation loans both have unique advantages and drawbacks — not one option is right for everyone.
This scenario shows that choosing
a private consolidation loan that has even a slightly higher interest rate -LRB-.5 %) then the interest rate available with a Direct Consolidation Loan can cost quite a bit of money.
If only the minimum payments were made (Options 1 & 3), the savings by choosing
the private consolidation loan would be about $ 2,500.
Federal consolidation loans can only be used for federal student loans, but
private consolidation loans can be used for both federal and private student loans.
The basics of federal and
private consolidation loans are outlined below.
The second scenario uses the same loan amounts and parameters as the first, except the borrower (Borrower B) isn't able to get an ultra-low interest rate on
her private consolidation loan — it's set at 4.75 %.
We start by discussing the basics of student loan consolidation and refinancing, and comparing the benefits and drawbacks of federal and
private consolidation loans.
With
a private consolidation loan, a private lender writes a new loan that pays off the old loans.
Option 2, which has an equal monthly payment to that of
the private consolidation loan (Option 3), saved Borrower B $ 1,500 and six months of payments.
Those with a higher income who want to pay off their loans as quickly as possible may be able to use
a private consolidation loan to reduce the amount of interest paid on certain federal loans.
This scenario demonstrates the impact of choosing to consolidate federal student loans with
a private consolidation loan when the Direct Consolidation Loan interest rate is even.5 % higher than what can be obtained from a private lender.
The federal consolidation has a loan term of 20 years, and
the private consolidation loan has a term of 10 years.
Private and federal loans can both be refinanced with
a private consolidation loan.
Since
a private consolidation loan can be used to refinance both federal and private loans, private consolidation loans could be used to consolidate only private loans, federal and private loans, or only federal loans — this means that there are several scenarios to consider.
The features that need to be researched when shopping for
a private consolidation loan can be broken down into five categories.
Discover doesn't disclose specific details about what it takes to qualify for
its private consolidation loan, but you'll likely be accepted if you:
This page provides information about education lenders who offer student loans, including the Federal Stafford Loan, Federal PLUS Loan, Federal Consolidation Loan, private education loans and
private consolidation loans.
Benefits such as income — driven repayment, public service loan forgiveness, teacher loan forgiveness, and other potential benefits are forfeited when choosing to do
a private consolidation loan.
Crucially, however, the likely consequence of agreeing a federal student loan consolidation program on the same grounds as
a private consolidation loan is to lose the benefits that the federal loans originally boast.
This includes a significantly lower interest rate that you will not be able to beat with
any private consolidation loan.
When evaluating
a private consolidation loan, ask whether the interest rate is fixed or variable, whether there are any fees, and whether there are prepayment penalties.
Since most private education loans do not compete on price,
a private consolidation loan is merely replacing one or more private education loans with another.
This advantage is lost if these college loans are bought out by
a private consolidation loan.
For
private consolidation loans, Discover's SCRA benefits are available regardless of servicemember's active duty start date.
We do not recommend including federal education loans in
a private consolidation loan, as this often increases the interest rate.
However, since the interest rates on private student loans are based on your credit score, you may be able to get a lower interest rate through
a private consolidation loan if your credit score has improved significantly since you first obtained the loan.
There is at least one lender that offers a fixed rate
private consolidation loan, but only to low - risk borrowers.
Note that in most cases
the private consolidation loan is a variable rate loan, so you aren't locking in a lower rate, just switching lenders.