Looking to Restructure or Consolidate Your Student Loans?

Given the state of unemployment and the job market for recent college graduates, student loan payments seem to be a common dark cloud looming over the heads of many Americans these days. Fortunately, there is some good news when it comes to paying back your student loans. There are many programs that will assist you in restructuring, consolidating or even postponing your payments for your student loan or loans. With the rise in college tuition, it is important to understand your options even before you enter into college.

I was able to ultimately reduce my two student loan payments in the long run and even postponed my payments until I could afford to pay back my loan. Most student loans are guaranteed by a national guarantee agency. I used Ed Fund, who guaranteed my loans and offered me a rehabilitation program to get my defaulted loans back to good standing. First, I retrieved my loan information from my lender and was then able to work with Ed Fund to rehabilitate my loans by making two monthly payments that I could afford. This was a figure that I came to after reviewing my financial responsibilities and finding a figure I could afford. After 6 months of timely payments, my loans were then sold to a lender. I continued making timely payments in the same agreed upon amount for an additional 6 months. My loans had been taken out of default and my credit was restored. At this point, I became unemployed and was able to take advantage of the unemployment deferment program. By simply filling out a request located on Ed Fund's website, I could take advantage of the deferment and interest was not charged because my loans were subsidized. If I did not qualify for the deferment I could have applied for a forbearance, which is also a postponement of my student loan payments but with forbearance, interest would continue to accrue on my loans.

At this point, my credit was in good standing and I was able to shop around for the best interest rates and consolidate my two student loans into one. I found that Federal Direct Consolidation Loans was the easiest to work with. I filled out their application online and my loans were consolidated within the month. I am now on a repayment plan that allows me to one low monthly payment and manage only one loan.