The Must Know before You Go to College and how much Student Loan Debt are you willing to be saddled with?

Walking away from student loan debt is not an option. It will follow you for the rest of your life or the next 25 years and wreck havoc on your financial affairs.

Exhaust all scholarship and grant opportunities before you shackle your life with student loans debt. Scholarship Information http://www.finaid.org/

I do not know much about this site but it seems to be a website that will assist in the scholarship and grant process: http://www.studentawards.com/

Taxable interest for student loan debt from the IRS: http://www.irs.gov/individuals/students/article/0,,id=177520,00.html

More information to assist in any question you may have on student aid: https://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp

IBR Income Based Repayment Plan Calculator https://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/IBRPlan.jsp

More on ‘Pay As You Go Plan’ a brain child of President Barak Obama. It is still in a pre-legislative stage.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/25/fact-sheet-help-americans-manage-student-loan-debt

More on how to manage your student loan debt. https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/index.action

NSLDS National Student Loan Data System. http://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/

Repayment Plans & Calculators. https://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/OtherFormsOfRepay.jsp

The US Department of Education; what college costs. http://collegecost.ed.gov/

A check list of what is needed to know for your college experience: https://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/publications.jsp

This May Aid in Your Current Student Loan Debacle:

Go to this web address to understand the steps needed for special student loan consolidation and other loan consolidation processes: http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/specialconsolidation.jsp

“To begin the online application process, you will be required to log on to www.studentloans.gov with your student aid credentials (including name, social security number, date of birth and your Federal Student Aid PIN). After logging on to the website, you will click on the word “here” in an Alert message located on the top right side of the page to begin the online application process.”

I had to go to NSLDS http://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/and get every loan I had ever taken out and supply that information on a pre-printed printout of names of loan servicers, who holds the loans, so to speak, and amounts. You will need your PIN #, so if you have misplaced your PIN, ask for you your PIN Number to be sent directly to you. http://www.pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/pinindex.jsp

Here is the PDF you can print and fill out for your student loan consolidation: http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov/forms/lvc.pdf

Here is another PDF for student loan consolidation within 180 days after your initial student loan consolidation; say for instance you took more classes after you had consolidated your student loans originally: http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov/forms/rqstadd.pdf

Now, I  just sent out another application (yesterday) to have 4 classes added into my original consolidation loan (I just finished my last classes May 6, 2012, yesterday) and it will take a little while for the paper work to be processed. After that, I will apply for an Income Repayment Plan (IBR).

What is Income-Based Repayment? “Income-Based Repayment (IBR) is a repayment plan for the major types of federal student loans that caps your required monthly payment at an amount intended to be affordable based on your income and family size.” http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/IBRPlan.jsp

What Loans can be consolidated, “All Stafford, PLUS and Consolidation Loans made under either the Direct Loan or FFEL Program are eligible for repayment under IBR, EXCEPT loans that are currently in default, parent PLUS Loans (PLUS Loans that were made to parent borrowers), or Consolidation Loans that repaid parent PLUS Loans. The loans can be new or old, and for any type of education (undergraduate, graduate, professional, job training).”

Now, I have not applied for (IBR) as of yet, but I will keep you apprised of the outcome.