Consolidating Private Student Loans With Bad Credit

The cost of a college education means students spend most of their time securing funding. So, when it comes to graduation day, they face huge debts that ensure they are under acute financial pressure even before they can begin their careers. Refinancing the debt is a wise move, especially when it comes to private student loans with bad credit.

Private loans are more expensive than the federal equivalent, but are also the most common. Often, the terms include a period of grace, but once that ends the full weight of the debt comes down to bear. As a result, repaying college debts becomes very difficult.

Refinancing the student loans through a consolidation program is widely recognized as the most effective option. This means that the original college debts are cleared, but with the terms of the consolidation loan better, the pressure of repaying it is significantly less.

Consolidation Programs Explained

Getting private student loans with bad credit is not a particularly difficult task. Most lenders understand that students have little or no income, but also that their education is the best way of securing a good job. The result is a greater open-mindedness towards students than other bad credit borrowers.

The problem is the cost of covering tuition fees and living expenses. And since each college year brings with it new expenses, as many as 5 loans can have been taken out by a typical student before they reach graduation day.

Taking this into account, repaying college debt is far from easy. But a consolidation program allows these individual debts to be combined, paid off and replaced by a more manageable loan. And as an added bonus, because the student loans are actually repaid in full, and not written off as in bankruptcy, the credit history of the student is greatly improved.

Typical Consolidation Loan Terms

As with all financial agreements, the terms of a consolidation loan need to be as good as possible. This is fairly likely when the borrower had secured private student loans with bad credit. Those terms would not have been ideal, making the potential for improvement much bigger. However, not all college loans are private; there are federal loans to consider too.

There is a major difference between private and federal student loans, with the government supported federal option usually coming with good terms anyway. Therefore, a typical private loan consolidation program will not provide the benefits to make the move worthwhile. So, repaying college debts from federal loans needs a special federal consolidation program.

There is no doubt that consolidating multiple student loans is the best option when trying to clear these debts, but be sure to choose the right program for each.

Qualifying for a Program

While a consolidation loan is viewed by lenders as another loan product, from which they will make a tidy profit, it is generally a simple process to qualify for one. Even getting private student loans with bad credit required some faith on the part of the lenders, but a consolidation program is seen as a replacement that fully repays the original loans.

Basically, the lenders who granted the original loans get their money back along with all the interest due. This is clearly a happy conclusion from their point of view. Still, there are some criteria to meet, such as having a minimum debt of $10,000 and that repaying college debt is unlikely under the existing terms.

They also need confirmation that the consolidation loan is affordable too. If not, then the loan term can be extended to help lower it. But while the overall interest paid over a longer term is more, clearing those student loans makes such things worthwhile.

Would You Refinance Student Loans After Consolidation?

While you're trying to get a college education, student loans can seem like a huge bonus, but once you are out of college, you'll face the repayment on all those loans that you have taken out during your years of school. If you're overwhelmed with your college loans, then you may be wondering if a consolidation loan is right for you. However, there are many things to consider before you take this route.

One of the big questions people have when it comes to consolidating loans is whether or not student loans can be refinanced after consolidation. Well, while the actual consolidation loan cannot be actually refinanced, you are able to consolidate a consolidation loan, but this can only be done once.

If you are going to consolidate the consolidation loan you already have, the only way you are able to do this is by adding on new loans that you have not consolidated. Two different consolidation loans can also be consolidated into just one loan, but you cannot just refinance it on it's own.

Even if you do a reconsolidation, it doesn't mean that the rates on your previous loan are going to be relocked. A special average interest rate formula that is weighted is used to figure out the interest rate.

If you are trying to work on consolidating your current student loans and you think you may want to switch lenders in the future, then you may want to exclude one of the loans you have from this new loan. This way, if you think you want to go to a different lender and reconsolidate, you have the option available to do that.