Had anyone ever done a student loan consolidation?
Does it require you to provide two references? I know for sure that entrance counseling requires it but what about the consolidation?
Legit answer please. Anyone with an advertisement to apply for a loan will be reported.
I am not applying for student loan. I just want to know if the consolidation really does require 2 references because I don’t want to be a referencer if it don’t require it.
And no, I will not use Nelnet
You mean through your lending/managing company? No. I did it through Nelnet (which was not my bank, but rather the managing loan company for all the student loan lenders in my state, and probably many others).
I will honestly tell you though, there is no reason to do this unless: a. you get a much lower interest rate, or b. you need to have graduated payments (meaning you pay 80/mo for two years, then you’ll pay 100/year for two years etc. until it is paid off).
Keep in mind though that graduated payments extend the life of the loan, instead of a ten year loan, it will be a 12 year loan, and though you may start out having a really small monthly payment, after about 6 years that small payment will be close to doubled.
Before I did that, I would talk to the loan companies and see if you could work out an arrangement to lower your payments if that’s the issue. Usually student loan rates are very low and can’t be beaten by an outside company. They usually extend the life of the loan to lower the payments resulting in a very high increase in interest paid over the life of the loan.
Just like confused, I did it with Nelnet and it was painless. I had one loan for each year of school and the consolidation just turned them into one. It made the minimum payment smaller and it lowered the interest rate. Smaller minimum payments are always a great thing because it’s easier to pay extra in order to advance the due date, moving your due date to a later date. Then you can wait till the later date to pay without incurring any late fees and you don’t have to contact the loan company. It made me feel relieved to advance my due date. I have since paid my loans in full.