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What Type of Loans Do You Have?, Part 1
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After you earn your degree (or if you leave school for any reason, or fall below half-time enrollment status), the clock immediately starts ticking and you have anywhere from six to nine months before you must begin repayment of your student loans. Your loan provider will typically give you information about your repayment schedule and will let you know the date you are to begin repaying your college debts.
If you're starting from scratch, some of you may not recall exactly what institutions, banks, or agencies you borrowed money from, let alone how much it was or how long you're on the hook for that debt.
So your first step is to pull out your paperwork and start doing a bit of sleuthing.
You do recall all those promissory notes you signed obligating you to pay back those loans, right? Well, even if lost your paperwork amidst a move, or if you thought, "Suckers!" and gleefully chucked those promissory notes as soon as you cashed your loan checks, that doesn't absolve you of your financial responsibility. Thankfully, you can still get an accounting of what you owe and to whom.
To get a list of all your federal student loans, just hop on the Internet and use the National Student Loan Data System at www.nslds.ed.gov. In order to access this database, which is maintained by the Department of Education, you'll have to supply your Social Security number and date of birth to verify your identity. You'll also be required to set up a user ID and get a four-digit PIN from the Department of Education in order to access your student loan information electronically. To obtain your PIN, go to www.pin.ed.gov.
There's also a second online source you can utilize for information about your educational loans. It's the Loan Locator service run by the National Student Clearinghouse. To access those records, visit: www.studentclearinghouse.org/secure_area/loan_locator.asp. Additionally, if you're not on the Web, call the Department of Education at 1-800-621-3115 to track down your student loans.
It's important to find out what type of loans you have because your repayment options and your alternatives for handling problem loans (translation: those you've defaulted on) are determined by what types of loans you secured. The type of loan you have also determines what agency handles a defaulted loan. For instance, Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) are handled differently than Perkins loans.
If you default on FFELs, which include Federal Stafford and Federal PLUS loans, your loans first get assigned to a guaranty agency, or an organization that administers the FFEL program for your state. The guaranty agency will then start collection activities against you. On occasion, guaranty agencies may assign loans to the Department of Education for collection. But let's say you took out federal Perkins loans. When these go into default, Perkins loans may remain with your school, or be assigned to the Department of Education for collection.
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Article Title : What Type of Loans Do You Have?, Part 1 |
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