Learn About the Income Based Replayment Plan (IBR) for Federal Student Loans

"What is the new Income Based Repayment (IBR) Plan for federal student loans?"

The Income Based Repayment (IBR) is a new repayment plan designed to make repaying federally guaranteed student loans easier. It takes your income and family size into consideration and adjusts your minimum monthly payment accordingly. The intent is to make monthly payments affordable.

"When does IBR take effect?"

July 1, 2009.

"Who can apply to the IBR?"

Anyone who has taken out certain major federally guaranteed loans can apply. These loans would be Stafford, Grad PLUS or Consolidation loan made under either the Direct Loan or FFEL program. It doesn't matter whether your federal student loan is old or new, whether you took it our for undergraduate, graduate, professional, or job training: you can apply.
Note: Federal student loans that are in default, parent PLUS Loans, or consolidation loans that repaid a parent PLUS Loan are NOT eligible for IBR.

"How can IBR benefit me?"

Under IBR, you could enjoy significantly lower monthly loan repayments if your federal student loan debt is high relative to your income and family size. Your monthly IBR payment amount is calculated based on your income, family size and state of residence. If the IBR amount is less than the monthly payment under a standard 10-year repayment plan, then you are eligible to repay your loans under IBR.

"Where can I find an IBR calculator?"

It's actually your lender who will perform the calculation to determine IBR eligibility, not the government. However, you can use the government's IBR calculator to estimate whether you are likely to benefit from the IBR plan.

Click here to see a chart that shows the maximum IBR monthly payment amounts for 2009, using a sample range of incomes and family sizes.

For a PDF of this information, go to http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/factsheets/factsheet_IncomeBasedRepayment.pdf.

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Everything You Need to Know About Student Loan Debt Consolidation

Student loan consolidation is a program offered by banks that will allow the student to group all of their student loans together and then make them into one payment. The bank pays off the other banks and assumes the student loan into one payment for the student.

It is a great debt management technique. If you are having trouble paying your monthly bills because of the current economic climate, you are not alone. A federal consolidation is probably one of the easiest major financial transactions you will ever complete in your life and it also could be the best major financial transaction you will ever complete. A federal student loan consolidation is when you refinance or combine your existing eligible federal loans into a single loan. When you apply for one, you are taking out a new loan to pay off all or a portion of your original eligible federal student loans.

All you need to do is contact your lender and tell them that you want to discuss consolidating and that will get the process started. This is not limited to only one lender. While doing this is better regulated than most forms of refinancing, lenders still manage to add substantial fees to the loan which must be paid. Some may be negotiable; others are not. The less interest you pay on your student loans, the faster you can get out of debt. Interest rates for these consolidation programs are at record lows, and it costs nothing to consolidate.

To learn much more about student loan debt consolidation, visit http://StudentLoan-Debt-Consolidation.com to find out much more about student loan consolidation and how to find the best rates and programs.

-- George Preston

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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