Student Loans

Generally, student loans are taken out for each year of school — so if you’re in a four-year undergraduate program, you’ll graduate with at least four separate loans, one for each year. (This is when, and why, loan consolidation comes into the picture.) The reason you don’t have to pay on each loan as it is disbursed is something called deferment, which…

Should you consolidate student loans? Consolidation is one of those words that conjures images of simplicity, organization, and perhaps even post-clutter serenity. Instead of a mess of bills, a mess of belongings, or a mess of life, you can simply consolidate and deal with less. In the case of student loans, consolidation means you can deal with fewer creditors, and…

Are you burdened by student loan debt? If so, have you looked into ways to lower, extend, or end your student loan payments? I’m guessing the answer is probably “Yes.” After all, when you are feeling the pinch, you want to find solutions that can help you. But it can be hard to understand how all these various programs work…

Once you finish college, you are likely to look at all of your student loan payments and sigh: How are you supposed to keep all of them straight? And how can you afford all those monthly payments? Among the inconveniences of student loans is that each loan that you receive for each school year is often considered a different loan…

Graduation is just around the corner which means student loans aren’t far behind. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to gain control over student loans before they take over your life. And the earlier you start, the better! That’s why we’re sharing information on student loans in this week’s shout outs – to empower you to…

Kristen Hawley is a freelance writer with a personal interest in student loan debt. She blogs here to help others understand exactly what’s happening in the student loan universe. “Should I do forbearance?” It’s a question many of us have asked. If you’ve read the fine print on your student loan paperwork (or have been in the dire straights of needing…

The author of this guest post is Kristen Hawley. Kristen is a freelance writer with a personal interest in student loan debt. She blogs here to help others understand exactly what’s happening in the student loan universe. Last year, average student loan debt in the US rose to $20,326 per borrower; nearly double the average amount from a decade ago. Leaving…

The author of this guest post is Kristen Hawley. Kristen is a freelance writer with a special interest in student loan debt legislation thanks to borrowing six figures to finance her own education. She blogs here to help others understand exactly what’s happening in the student loan universe and how to best manage their current situations for future success. Student…

Mitchell Fox is a Tax Nerd and the Co-Founder of GoodApril, a site that provides consumers with online tax planning and tax advice services and offers a free “Tax Checkup” to help you identify actions you can take to reduce your taxes. You can follow Mitch on Twitter at @mitchellwfox or @goodapriltax. There are a lot of benefits to paying down your debt…