Navigating the New Direct Consolidation Loan Application Process
You’ve done your homework and determined that you are ready to consolidate your federal student loans. Okay, so how do you do it? Good question! To begin with, a new electronic consolidation loan application process was launched on the StudentLoans.gov Web site on January 2, 2014. If you do not have one or more defaulted loans assigned to the Department of Education, you will use the new Direct Consolidation Loan application process. Here’s what you need to know The Federal Direct Consolidation Loan Application…
Is a Direct Consolidation Loan Right For You?
You have a handful of federal student loans and you’re wondering whether it makes sense to consolidate them. Good question! Let’s begin with the basics. A Direct Consolidation Loan allows you to combine your federal student loans into one loan. You can have the convenience of one loan and one loan payment, you can switch older variable interest rate loans to a fixed interest rate, and consolidation can also give you access to alternative repayment plans and forgiveness provisions you would not have had…
5 Tips for Managing Student Debt
Heather loves National Public Radio and offering free advice to student loan borrowers and their families. She got to enjoy both last week as she sat down with Public Radio International's nationally-syndicated talkshow host Tavis Smiley to discuss how to avoid student loan debt or what to do once you’re in student loan debt. Listen to the interview here. Heather's Five Tips for Managing Student Loan Debt: 1. Everyone should fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). 2. Students should choose…
U.S. Will Earn $66 Billion From Student Loans
Thanks to our friends at The Chronicle of Higher Education for bringing this story to our attention. In an article by Mark Keierleber, the Chronicle notes that a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office projects that the U.S. will generate nearly $66 billion in income from loans issued from 2007-2012. The report, "Federal Loans: Borrower Interest Rates Cannot Be Set in Advance to Precisely and Consistently Balance Federal Revenues and Costs," highlights the difficulty in trying to predict what cost of future…
Proposed Bill Aims to Bolster Accountability
U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Patty Murray (D-WA) have co-signed a bill that would establish benchmarks for college access, affordability and outcomes. Dubbed the “College Affordability and Innovation Act of 2014,” the bill also proposes the establishment of a competitive grant program to fund a series of pilot programs at a handful of institutions that wish to test innovative higher education programs. Among the bills key proposals: Establishes a 15-member commission on higher education accountability…
