With college graduation just around the corner, more than three million students are not only preparing their caps and gowns, they're also preparing to pay back student loan debt approaching $40 billion.
NEWTON, Mass. (BusinessWire EON) April 3, 2007 --
With college graduation just around the corner, more than three million
students are not only preparing their caps and gowns, they’re
also preparing to pay back student loan debt approaching $40 billion.
After graduation, students with one or more loans can consolidate them
into one – usually lower –
monthly payment. But is consolidating the best option? SimpleTuition,
Inc., a company dedicated to helping students and parents make sense
of education financing choices, notes it’s
important to obtain all information before making a choice.
Before jumping the gun, SimpleTuition recommends analyzing the pros and
cons, including:
Pros of Consolidation:
-
Lower monthly payment
-
One loan, one lender, one payment
-
Aggressive "borrower benefits" such as cash back, reduced rate for
on-time payments or automatic debit, and a fixed interest rate that
could lower your total cost of borrowing (SimpleTuition recommends
reading the fine print on the benefits closely –
there may be some stringent requirements to obtaining them, and they
may be easy to lose.)
Cons of Consolidation:
-
Longer repayment period could lead to a higher total cost of loan
-
In some cases, higher interest rate
The SimpleTuition website walks graduating students through a quick but
thorough analysis of: first, whether consolidation is even right for
them; and second, if it does seem like the right step, a comparison of
up to 25 consolidation offers from big banks, student lenders and even
the federal government itself. Users can even enter ANY other
consolidation offer they’ve received to see
how it compares. Results can be sorted by monthly payment, number of
payments, total cost of loan and APR. With direct links to a financial
institution’s online application, the entire
consolidation process can be completed online or via a toll free call.
To ensure accuracy SimpleTuition is not a lender.
“Graduating from college is a huge
achievement. And it’s a busy time in a person’s
life,” said Kevin Walker, CEO of SimpleTuition,
Inc. “Graduating students should be
focused on getting started in the real world, not spending hours and
hours trying to understand student loan consolidation. It’s
important, of course, but it doesn’t have to
be confusing and time consuming. We hope our website can help.”
SimpleTuition also offers a resource for students looking to consolidate
private loans, but reminds borrowers that they should never include
their federal loans into a private student loan consolidation loan.
About SimpleTuition, Inc.
Founded in 2005, SimpleTuition is dedicated to helping students and
parents make sense of education financing options. Recently featured as
one of Fast Company’s Top 12 Web 2.0
sites, SimpleTuition offers the leading independent and objective
solution for researching and comparing private, PLUS, Stafford,
GradPLUS, Federal Consolidation and Private Consolidation loans. The
company currently offers over 50 student loan options from over 25 top
lenders. SimpleTuition is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts and is
funded by Atlas Venture, IDG Ventures Boston and North Hill Ventures.
For more information visit www.SimpleTuition.com.
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