Student Loan Repayment

   STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT

Student loan debts need to be repaid even if your economical circumstances are difficult, you don’t find the job you had expected or you haven’t completed the education you paid for with the loan. Or even if you think the education received is not useful to you. Remember that the student loan is yours, and it’s a legal and real loan. You have to repay the principal amount borrowed and whatever interests have accumulated.

Apart from filling in the FAFSA application at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ you must also sign an IOU document by which you oblige yourself to repay the total sum lender to you plus interest.

Get well informed on the conditions you are accepting by signing the loan application and don’t lose contact with the financial institution granting it, especially if you have trouble to make a monthly payment or your personal situation changes. Every financial institution will be able to help you by reviewing your repayment terms and conditions, offering you a consolidation loan or deferring payment, so don’t hide from your financial institution: that will only make the problem worse.

Don’t forget to communicate to the holder of your loan any changes in your present circumstances, like:

- Change of university

- Leaving studies

- New graduation date

- Becoming a part-time student

- Address, name or phone changes

- Payments to be deferred

- Not being able to make payment

The NSLDS (National Student loan debt Data System) allows you access your data (federal loan and grant status, loan repayment, etc.) as well as to view your current loan balance and details of pending payments. Go to http://www.nslds.ed.gov

How to check the status of the student loan. To access to the Student Loan Data System is necessary the PIN (Personal Identification Number) that appears in the SAR document received after completing and submitting the FAFSA form. If you don’t know or you have forgotten the PIN number, you can apply for it on internet site http://www.pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/pinindex.jsp

Ways of repayment

Your monthly repayment amount will depend on how much you borrowed and on the total length of the loan.

You will have a “Grace Period” before starting to pay your student loan debt, after you graduate or leave the college. Each Student loan has different “Grace Period”:

- Six Months for Federal (FFEL) or Direct Stafford Loans.

- Nine Months for Perkins Loans.

- 60 Days for Federal or Direct Plus Loans for Parents.

Your loan holder will notify you when your repayment loan is due to start.

These documents explain the existing repaying options. They include examples of how monthly repayment sums are calculated, and they also provide information on other issues that need to be addressed when considering a loan:

How to repay your student loans

Electronic payment

The student’s bank will charge him or her the fixed amount on a regular monthly basis. This is the easiest way to pay. You avoid mistakes, forgetting to pay and involuntary delays). Some banks will give you a discount on interest if you choose this option.