Top Scams Targeting College Students

Author: Sally Croft

Students are faced with the daunting tasks of completing their pre-college studies, applying to numerous colleges, waiting to get accepted and then planning how to pay for their educational pursuits and the expenses that are expected to come with this endeavor. The hunt for financing is on and students as well as parents can be lured in to schemes that are anything but beneficial to them. There exist, in all forms of media, those who are looking to take advantage of the novice student or adult borrower in order to exploit their resources and gain whatever they can from this.

Some of these sales approaches that try to get money from students or their families can be called “scams”. There are scams that range from simple advertising tricks to come-ons that just plain are invented to draw attention or even to direct you to a particular site. Some of the top scams targeting college students and perspective college students have become quite inventive with their methods.

Government Offers - These are not really from the government, though they may refer to government sites. If an offer looks like it comes from the government be sure to check out the source of the mailing. Students should know that the U.S. federal government site for applying for general financial aid is called the FAFSA and is easy to find by doing a general web search for financial aid.
Flashy colorful advertisements - Discard any mail for financing that comes with flashing ads, music, dancers or other forms of entertainment to distract you.
One time offers - Avoid any thing that says it is a one time offer as it is probably not from a reputable source.
Student Loan Consolidation - Be careful of offers for student loan consolidation from companies other than banks
Scholarship offers, especially those that charge a fee

Things to Look Out For

Some ads offer information on how to get money for free, it’s not really free
Do not fall for any financial aid offers that come unsolicited through email
Sweepstakes with prizes and free money for college are a way to lure students in to deals
Be careful of so-called financial aid finders
Financial aid offers that charge a fee for finding sources for you

Tags: College Student Scams, college students, Graduates, Scams, student loan consolidation
Posted in Graduating Students, Student Loan Consolidation Scams, student loan consolidation | No Comments »

Jan

Top 5 ways to pay off your Student Loan real fast!

Author: Sally Croft

As long as there is a need to opt for student loan options, repayment and related issues continue to exist. Constant reminders on the need to repay student loan in time and any tips to help you repay the loan as fast as possible are always needed. Based on research and experience, below are 5 quick tips to pay off your student loan really fast.

5 Quick Ways to Pay off Student Loan

Repay Right Away – Student loans are offered for tenures extending as long as 30 years. This helps students slowly repay their loan amounts without much hassle every month. While it is certainly the most sought after plan, there is absolutely no point in extending your payments for long when you have the capacity to repay even before that. All you do is increase the cost of your liability. Wait for the right time and repay your Student Loans right away. There is no need to change your repayment plan, instead you repayment every month can happen with a little increase in the payment. No matter how small the amount, every bit helps.
Consolidation Loans – Consolidating loans is the final solution for those who have more than one student loan liability. What exactly is the advantage of consolidation? Well, the answer is very simple consolidation loans help you take advantage of two things: lower interest rates and the advantage of consolidating all your student loan liabilities into one single liability. It is while consolidating that you should remember two important aspects. You cannot consolidate federal and private loans together and, even among federal loans, not consolidate the most beneficial loans with less beneficial ones.
Other People’s Money – Years have passed and you still feel you haven’t really made any substantial repayment, it’s time to check out whether the government office you had been working for or the private employer have policies to repay your student loans for the service provided by you, either as a salary component or loyalty bonus under the Federal Student Loan Repayment Program or policies framed specifically for this purpose. Such repayments range between $10,000 and $60,000.
Hardship Status – While in every normal circumstance it is important to repay your student loan liability, there may be extraordinary circumstances when it might seriously not be possible to proceed normally. Hard luck coupled with a series of unfortunate happenings, might seriously make it difficult for you to repay the loan liability. There is absolutely no need to worry, by filling out a simple form you can enable authorities know your financial condition or cases of contracted perennial illness and claim hardship status. Your liabilities can be partly or totally waived. For more details log on to: www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DCS/forms/fs.pic.pdf
Help from Ombudsman – An ombudsman is an agency with a dedicated website in the name of Federal Student Aid Office of the Ombudsman. Their role is to help students who have difficulties in student loan repayment or with the loan company, resolve the issue by contacting your lender and do whatever it takes to resolve the issue.

Tags: Repayment Tips, student loan, student loan consolidation, Student Loan Repayment
Posted in Student Loan | No Comments »

Oct

Top Student Loan Consolidation Services from Chase

Author: Sally Croft

Chase is one of the prominent financial institutions in the US that provides student loans and student loan consolidation. Chase employs experts who are able to assist scores of students every year in pursuing higher education. It offers a secure, easy and quick application process. Chase student loans enable students to understand the various options with respect to student loans.

Types of Chase Student Loans

Federal consolidation loans
Private consolidation loans
Federal Stafford loans
Federal Grad PLUS loans
Private student loans

Federal student loans are offered by the government and can be funded by private lenders like Chase. Private lenders offer similar student loans that have lower interest rates with extended repayment periods. The private student loans offered by Chase can be used for approved education-related expenditures. They are offered in varied forms and can be opted for when the money offered by federal loans is not enough to take care of the full fees for higher education and when they need to be consolidated during repayment.

Student Loan Consolidation from Chase

Student loan consolidation from Chase is offered to combine all existing private loans into a single loan with a low interest rate. It is easy to repay the loan as a single payment every month. Chase takes care of servicing these private student loans and does not sell them to another financial institute or lender. These loans require credit approval along with a completed and signed Application/Promissory Note and verification of application information.

Consolidating Federal student loans do not require for any kind of credit check. However, it does require a minimum balance of $7,500 with a cumulative borrowing limit for private student loans of $150,000, based on credit eligibility. With the help of student loan consolidation from Chase, the repayment period can be extended so that the overall financial obligation can be increased. With this, the monthly loan payments can be reduced and the principal can be prepaid with no penalties. Being able to prepay means the overall cost of the loan reduces drastically.

Keep in Mind

Federal Student Loans can be consolidated, but federal and private student loans should not be consolidated into a single student loan consolidation program. If you consolidate them together, you lose the benefits of forbearance and deferment with the federal loans.
Similar to other debt consolidation loans, student loan consolidation payments should be done by a single lender who will pay the earlier creditors for all initial loans.
For Federal Student Loans Consolidation, the minimum balance is $7,500 and it must be done within the six month grace period or when the loans are in repayment.
Based on the balance of the loan, student loan consolidation will have an extended repayment period.
The repayment plan should enable balance of monthly payments and result in a good credit rating.
Student loan consolidation has a maximum interest rate of 8.25%.
There are no additional charges involved in processing the student loan consolidation.
After the consolidation is approved, it cannot be undone as the loan amount will have already been paid to the previous creditors.