Loans Help!

drink227

So the whole student loan thing is a dark cloud over my head.
I am currently in Grad School, but my undergrad loans are up for repayment in June.  I'm trying to figure out how to consolidate and defer them, but I'm confused.  Any ideas? Any suggestions? What's the easiest way to do this?

Ataylor0004

You should be able to contact your lenders and let them know you are a Grad student. That automatically qualifies for deferment as long as you're at least half-time.

Hinaj

Ditto PP.  As long as you are in school at least half time and above.  Student loans will be deferred until you fall below the half time or X amount of months after you graduate.  Just contact them and let them know of your status.  I am surprise they don't know alraedy, my student loan automatically went back in to deferment when I returned to school again.  Just do it soon, so they can fix it. 

LauraT25

I think people have it pretty much covered, but:

-For consolidation, there are a couple of places that do it, but it might be easiest to just look into it through the agency that gave you the loans.  Mine are from AES and I was able to find the forms online.  They also had good customer support online and on the phone when I was wondering about a forbearance.

-For deferment, again, contact the agency.  This was very simple for me -  I went to the website, there was a little survey to see if i qualified, and then it directed me to the appropriate form based on my situation (i.e. full-time student).  I filled it out and then had to bring it to the financial aid office at my school so they could verify it and they sent it out for me.

You should be eligible for deferment as soon as you are enrolled as a student in graduate school.  I consolidated first, then defered, but if you're unsure just call the agency.  Some loans are only eligible for deferment for a certain period of time, so you may still have to make some payments if that's the case for you.

HeyLauren1120

Everyone else is pretty much spot-on.  You must notify the companies your loans are with that you're still in school.  Some loans are only eligible for deferment for so many years and you may need to pay them back during school if you don't consolidate.  

If you have government backed student loans (direct loans) double check to see if they're subsidized or unsubsidized.  If you consolidate subsidized student loans you lose out on the government paying the interest while you're in school, so normally you don't want to consolidate them.

misschase3

You definitely can defer while you are pursuing other educational endeavors. Contact your lender ASAP!

Patineuse1124

You should be able to defer, but keep in mind that they are accruing interest the whole time, so you may want to try to make some payment on them, even if it's just a little bit each month.  Depending on what your FI's situation is and how you two decided to handle finances you may be able to afford payments.

Once you graduate try not to change your lifestyle too much until you paid off your loans.  The faster you pay them off the less stress you will have financially.  Student loans (or any debt really) can be a strain on a marriage, so try to get out of the red asap.