Private Student Loan Deferment
One concern that many borrowers have when taking out a private student loan is when they will need to begin repayment. Thankfully, most lenders provide private student loan deferment options so that while you are in school, you have no financial obligation and can focus on your studies.
Common Deferment & Forbearance Options
Although not all of these will apply to all private student loans, many lenders support them and will honor your desire to remain current on your accounts during times of hardship or while in-school.
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In School Deferment
Postpone all payments while in school until after graduation or dropping below half-time in your degree program. Most lenders offer a 6-month grace period upon graduation before payments are scheduled to begin.
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Economic Hardship Deferment / Forbearance
If you are not confident in your ability to make your payments and remain current on your student loan, you can ask to have payments temporarily deferred. In most cases, the maximum length of this type of deferment is 3 years or 36 months. Interest will continue to accrue during this period.
Apply for Student Loan Consolidation
Did you know that consolidating your private student loans could potentially lower your monthly payments as well as your interest rate? At StudentLoanConsolidator.com, you can calculate your potential savings, compare lenders, and apply, all in one place! Get Started Now »
Other Options for Financially-troubled Borrowers
If you cannot get a deferment or forbearance on your private student loan, there are other ways to reduce your payments and potentially lighten your monthly financial obligations.
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Reign in credit debt.
In this day and age, it's likely that you probably have at least a little credit debt on top of what you are paying for student loans. There are lots of ways to trim down what you are paying each month for those accounts, which subsequently makes paying your existing private student loans easier. Tools like balance transfer allow you to move your high interest balances to lower ones, which will save you money every month.
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Repair or improve your credit score.
Along the same lines, the better your credit gets, the lower your potential interest rate on everything from credit cards to car loans to loan consolidations. This of course will save you a lot of money (and frustration!) in the long run. Improve your credit score »
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Consolidate your private student loans.
Private student loan consolidation is an easy way to instantly reduce your payments by up to 50% at the cost of more interest overall and a lengthened repayment term. The trick is deciding what is more important, making your payments month-to-month or shouldering the smallest debt overall?
