Tag Archives: debt

Pitfalls of debt consolidation

In my mail box everyday I receive at least one or two mails regarding the debt consolidation companies and services and I always wonder how many people will be taken into these attractive statements without knowing much about the details. The luring claims of these companies include;
1. To decrease interest rate to almost a zero level.
2.50% lessening of monthly payments
3. A security to your company and debt.

If you are stuck into this whole system of unpaid debt these statements would look like a relieving pain killer or an exact ointment on your wounds. But before actually jumping on any of these services let me give a few drawbacks of this whole methodology that will compel you to think appropriately and then decide.

Zero Interest Rate
Well, zero interest rate is not possible humanly, because no fooling is sitting in these companies to let you spend all his money gaining no profit in return. It’s just like you need to have a detailed calculation about the monthly payments you are going to make and the time period. Most of the times you’ll come to know that interest rate are as much as 22 to 25% high. You may be paying less monthly amounts but yeah the duration will be much prolonged.

Payments and their Share in these
You will pay your monthly amount to these debt consolidation companies and then let’s see what can happen to those. First of all you may notice that they are having their share or fees in every payment and ultimately paying the creditor a lesser one. Then some of these companies are even notorious to make late payments or missed payments that will worsen your credit score and your rating for payments.

Balance Transfer Cards
These low interest balance transfer cards re very much into market these days even you can have dozens of them in your pocket. But what is the drawback? You ask for such a balance transfer cards and pay that low interest payments for few days, but after that time this interest rate is diminished and you have to either pay the original interest or even more than that that’ll be devastating.

Negotiating
This is the part they said they are expert in, but actually they are misleading you so as not to involve you in this whole matter. The better option here will be to negotiate with the companies by you so that you won’t have any doubts regarding the payments.

Student Loan Debt Spirals at For-Profit Colleges (Page 1 of 2)

Despite the publicity in recent years surrounding an ostensible “student loan crisis” that has saddled a generation of college students and their parents with overwhelming amounts of student loan debt, a large number of college students are actually graduating with little or no debt from student loans, newly released data has revealed.

However, the likelihood that a college student will take on any student loan debt depends largely on the type of school he or she attends, with students at for-profit career schools, online schools, vocational training programs, and other for-profit institutions tending to rely on student loans in much higher proportions.

Many College Students Eschewing Student Loans

About one in three college graduates leaves school without any debt from student loans, according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Education as part of its National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, which is conducted every four years.

Of those students who earned a bachelor’s degree in the 2007–08 academic year, 34 percent graduated with no debt from student loans — a figure that has held steady over the past four years. Of those students who earned either a two-year or four-year degree or certificate, 41 percent graduated with no student loan debt.

The For-Profit Exception: Student Loan Debt Saturates Career Schools

A breakdown of the NPSAS student loan debt data, however, reveals that student loan borrowing diverges widely across types of higher education institutions, with students at for-profit colleges borrowing money for their education more often and in larger amounts.

Virtually all for-profit students are graduating with at least some debt from college loans.

Among graduates of two-year associate degree programs, for example, whereas only 38 percent of those in public programs left school with at least one education loan, 98 percent of those in for-profit programs did so.

Among graduates of two-year certificate programs, only 30 percent of students in public programs left school with education debt, while 90 percent of students in the for-profit programs did so.

Of those students who earned bachelor’s degrees, 62 percent of those in public four-year programs and 72 percent of those in private four-year programs graduated with debt from student loans, while 96 percent of students in for-profit bachelor’s programs did.

More Private Student Loans Seen at Career Schools

Students in for-profit programs were also more likely than their private and public counterparts to leave school with debt from non-federal private student loans.

Overall, 30 percent of students earning a higher education degree in 2007–08 had taken out private student loans. But the percentages were much higher among students of for-profit schools.

Among graduates of associate degree programs, 60 percent of those in for-profit programs had taken on debt from private student loans, compared to just 15 percent of those in public two-year programs.