5 Creative Ways to Repay Your Student Loans

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Student loan repayment is a constant struggle for many students and grads. From working 2 jobs to cutting back on other expenses, repayment is no easy task. That’s why we’re bringing you some creative solutions to solve your financial woes.

It’s becoming more and more common to see students start their own blogs and websites dedicated to soliciting donations for their student loan accounts. This is now known as cyber-begging. If you’re even a little web-savvy, this could be a great way to share your story with the world. Keeping a blog lets donors know how you’re progressing in your career, showing them they donated to a worthy cause – you.

If blogging or web development isn’t your thing, don’t sweat it. There are existing sites that do the grunt work for you. One such website it Lily’s List. Started by four mothers wanting to make a difference, this student loan gift registry allows people everywhere to donate to a student’s loan. There is a $15 membership fee, but well worth it for students with family and friends willing to donate.

Another website that offers a similar service is SponsorMyDegree.com. This website allows students and grads to either pay off their current tuition or repay their student loans through the donations of sponsors. Sponsors can be people you know, complete strangers, or even corporations. It’s free to register, so why not?

You should also note that registering for these site won’t guarantee you money. You’ll have to work hard marketing and promoting your cause to make the most of these sites. Utilize Facebook, Twitter, reach out to companies or organizations you associate with, and spread the word! You won’t reap the benefits without a little effort.

Tip: If you set up your own sponsorship page before your graduation, you could get a lot of help when it comes time for graduation season! Ask that instead of gifts, family and friends donate to your page. It can even be as easy as setting up a PayPal account!

Way back in March we posted a blog on how to Volunteer Your Way Out of Debt. There are pilot programs popping up nationwide that allow graduates to work off their loans with local non-profits. The idea is that qualified volunteers spend their time helping out non-profit organizations, and in return, can earn money towards paying off student loan debt. it’s a win-win, no? For more information on these programs, read Volunteer your Way Out of Debt.

If these pilot programs are not in your area, there is always the option to serve through an established volunteer program such as AmeriCorps or Peace Corps. While they do require you to serve for a long period of time, these programs offer student loan forgiveness incentives.

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Obama’s Plan for Student Loan Debt

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Today, President Obama spoke in Denver, presenting his plan for managing student loan debt in the US. As student loan debt climbs toward the Trillion dollar mark, students and graduates are calling for change nationwide, and today’s presidential speech addressed this heightening issue.

According to the White House, the President’s plan is twofold:

First, he intends to cap the student loan minimum monthly payment at 10 percent of discretionary income, lowering it from the current 15 percent. This plan was originally set to go into effect in 2014, however, President Obama is moving this initiative to 2012.

For students and grads, this can have a huge impact, potentially saving borrowers hundreds of dollars each month. The hope is that students will be less likely to default on loans, and be able to get their lives back in order with more money in their pockets each month.

The second part of this debt reduction plan is to allow consolidation of FFEL and Direct loans together. For those who aren’t familiar with FFEL, here’s a quick summary:

The FFEL program was a federal student loan program where banks and lenders acted as the intermediary, servicing a student’s government loan. Today, the Direct Loan Program eliminates the intermediary, and the loans are disbursed directly through the government.

Currently, students who have both an FFEL and Direct loans are unable to combine them into one loan. The new consolidation option could impact how much borrowers pay in interest, as consolidating these loans may lower the interest rates for many borrowers nationwide.

But wait there’s more…

Not only did Obama propose these two initiatives to lower debt, but he intends to lower the number of years before a borrower can be eligible for loan forgiveness, cutting the length of repayment from 25 to 20 years. This means that after 20 years of on-time repayment, a borrower could apply to have their remaining debt forgiven.

What do you think? Does this sound like a solid plan?

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Row In College - A Recruiting Guide For Female Student Athletes

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An Ebook Guide To The Womens College Rowing Recruiting Process. Intended For Any Female Student Thinking Of Rowing In College. It Walks You And Your Parents Through The Process, Showing How To Increase Your Chance Of Being Recruited By The Right College.

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Student Ministry Ebook

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This Ebook Contains Interviews From 14 Top Student Ministry Leaders Who Reveal What Theyd Do If They Had To Start All Over Again... From Scratch.

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Tips Of Study: Secrets Of A1 Student Mind

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Written Based On Years Of Researches, Experiments And Personal Experience. Author Is An Experienced Academic Coach Who Verify His Techniques With Thousands Of Students. This Is Not An Idea Book, But A Tested Studying Strategies On His Own Students.

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SMART Grants - Educational Grants For The Student Of Math, Science And Languages

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National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grants assist those undergraduate post-secondary students that major in other languages or certain designated technical fields. Financial grant assistance is provided on need-basis to help these students meet their educational expenses.

National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grants are overseen by way of the Department of Education and fall under the Federal Student Aid Information Center. To become entitled to a this, students need to be signed up for eligible schools that might be public or private nonprofit institutions of higher education. These can include but are not limited to universities, colleges, hospital schools of nursing, vocational-technical schools and for- profit institutions.

Only specific majors meet the requirements to be considered for a this grant. These are Science (including life sciences, physical science and computer science), Technology, Engineering, Critical foreign language studies, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Mathematics, and certain natural resource conservation and multidisciplinary programs.

National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grants are not accessible for graduate students or those students who have already completed a bachelor's degree without any exceptions possible. The student should be enrolled in a four-year degree program, be in either their third or the fourth year of said program and be allowed to receive a Pell Grant in the same year that they want to be considered for a SMART Grant. Students must also maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0.

Students really need to sign a statement of educational purpose, are not allowed to owe a refund on another a Title IV grant, and cannot currently have a Title IV loan that is defaulted.

While the program itself is overseen by the Department of Education, the institution that the student is enrolled in will act as the disbursing agent. The institution calculates and pays the SMART Grants. This can be done using a payment schedule put together by the Department of Education. The Department of Education will then calculate if the student is eligible for assistance and the office the student sent the original application sent to will send the student a notification whether or not they were eligible for assistance. The student then delivers this received notification to the institution and will have their grant calculated from there. The funding available and the selection of recipients that the institution estimates will determine this payment schedule.

The total grants were $230,000,000 in 2007; approximately $260,000,000 in 2008; and approximately $270,000,000 in 2009. Depending on the need of the student and how much they are assigned, the grant received through the program can range upwards of $4000. SMART Grants assistance cannot exceed the student's actual price of education. The normal reward for students was around $3,291.

Due to recent cutbacks, there is no guarantee word yet on whether the SMART Grant will be available for students for the 2011-2012 year and onwards.

Michael Saunders is an editor of TopGovernmentGrants.com. He maintains Websites providing resources on small business grants and education grants.

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Obama’s Plan for Student Loan Debt

 

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Student loan debt consolidation

There’s no way around it. If you took out student loans to pay for college, you have to pay them back. That can be hard to do, whether you’re still in school, trying to start your life outside it, or even 10 years down the line. You borrowed the money, you used it, and you have to pay it back.

What happens when that means you have to choose between paying all your bills or just those? What happens when those outstanding debts get in the way of putting money together for a house, or a car, or a family? It just doesn’t make sense to walk through life incurring the debts of living while you’re still dragging around the ones from school.

Fortunately, there’s a solution. You still have to pay back what you borrowed, but with a student loan debt consolidation make monthly payments to just one lender.

Think of it as refinancing. The money you borrow from one lender pays off the money you owe to all those other lenders. No more juggling what’s due to whom and when. Not only that, the interest rate on the student loan debt consolidation is the weighted average of those other loans, making it lower overall and bringing your monthly payment down accordingly. Some student loan debt consolidations are settled at a fixed rate, so you don’t have to worry when July 1 rolls around each year that your payment will go up.

Among the student loan debt consolidation available, there are actually four different student repayment plans to research and one is bound to be just what you’re looking for.

If the idea of a fixed rate really appeals to you, consider either the Standard Repayment Plan or the Extended Repayment Plan. The Standard Repayment Plan gives you a maximum of 10 years to repay, but payments are divided within that time limit at a fixed interest rate.

Extended Repayment Plans relieve the burden of monthly payment amounts still further by stretching the time to pay off the loan to between 12 and 30 years (depending on the total amount borrowed). Again, the interest rate is fixed for that time period, and the payments are lower. Be aware that over time, you will end up paying a larger amount, but the monthly payments will be easier to bear.

The Graduated Repayment Plan also allows you to spread your monthly student load debt consolidation payments over a period of between 12 and 30 years, but in this case, the amount of your monthly payment will increase every two years.

The fourth plan appeals to a number of people because it takes into account what’s going on in your life. In the Income Contingent Repayment Plan, a reasonable monthly payment amount is determined based on your annual gross income, family size, and total direct student loan debt. Another advantage of this student loan debt consolidation repayment plan spreads the payments over 25 years.

If you’re close to the end of your student loans, consider carefully whether taking on a new loan is worth the time and effort. However, if you still have a long time to go and many payments ahead of you – and you’ve already exhausted the deferment and forbearance options on your existing loans – making a fresh start with a student loan debt consolidation may actually be to your benefit.