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My daughter called the University Financial Aid office today and the person immediately recognized that those were "Private Loans" even though they were completely handled through the University.
Briolat was correct, they have none of the benefits, NO deferments, NO low income based repayment, NO pay off for public services, etc. etc. and all of the penalties & problems of Federal Loans. The person said that many people call with problems with those loans.
I've posted this 3 times and you haven't said you're looking into this. Has your daughter checked to see if she can consolidate her loans with the US Dept of Ed? You do it through them not the school or current loan company. The US Dept of Ed is REALLY easy to work with. My loans were initially private loans and I consolidated them all through the US Dept of Ed. Saved me a ton of interest and the government is much easier to work with. They will grant forbearances and deferments pretty easily. My private lender wouldn't budge an inch on anything.
I've posted this 3 times and you haven't said you're looking into this. Has your daughter checked to see if she can consolidate her loans with the US Dept of Ed? You do it through them not the school or current loan company. The US Dept of Ed is REALLY easy to work with. My loans were initially private loans and I consolidated them all through the US Dept of Ed. Saved me a ton of interest and the government is much easier to work with. They will grant forbearances and deferments pretty easily. My private lender wouldn't budge an inch on anything.
Thank you for the suggestion. Sorry, I did not respond earlier. My daughter checked this out very thoroughly about two years ago. She said that in her situation combining all of her loans would not be in her best interest. She has already paid off her higher interest loans. While she/we are having a temporary problem right now the interest rate is low (3.2%) and if she combined her loans it would cause problems with the other loans.
Last edited by germaine2626; 08-23-2016 at 07:30 PM..
Thank you for the suggestion. Sorry, I did not respond earlier. My daughter checked this out very thoroughly about two years ago. She said that in her situation combining all of her loans would not be in her best interest. She has already paid off her higher interest loans. While she/we are having a temporary problem right now the interest rate is low (3.2%) and if she combined her loans it would cause problems with the other loans.
That was 2 years ago. Her situation has changed. She won't be able to make payments for 2+ years. The federal government interest rate isn't bad. And they have forbearances and deferments. Private lending institutions don't do that.
Let's be honest, it's going to be a HUGE stretch for you to cover her student loan payments for 2+ years. Her life is dramatically changing and she needs to take care of her finances. If she has to pay more interest, then that's what she needs to do. These are HER loans. Not yours. Yes, I know she moved home to help you with her dad. She made that choice.
If you consolidate all of your student loans, it does not cause any problems with any other loan. You can also take out additional student loans later if you go back to school, graduate school, etc. She really should talk to the US Dept of Ed about this. Not her lending institution and not the financial aid office. Neither one is going to help her. The lending institution is only looking to make money on her....nothing else! Financial aid offices don't know how everything works at all the lending institutions....they change their own rules every time a CEO turns around and hiccups.
That was 2 years ago. Her situation has changed. She won't be able to make payments for 2+ years. The federal government interest rate isn't bad. And they have forbearances and deferments. Private lending institutions don't do that.
Let's be honest, it's going to be a HUGE stretch for you to cover her student loan payments for 2+ years. Her life is dramatically changing and she needs to take care of her finances. If she has to pay more interest, then that's what she needs to do. These are HER loans. Not yours. Yes, I know she moved home to help you with her dad. She made that choice.
If you consolidate all of your student loans, it does not cause any problems with any other loan. You can also take out additional student loans later if you go back to school, graduate school, etc. She really should talk to the US Dept of Ed about this. Not her lending institution and not the financial aid office. Neither one is going to help her. The lending institution is only looking to make money on her....nothing else! Financial aid offices don't know how everything works at all the lending institutions....they change their own rules every time a CEO turns around and hiccups.
You can't consolidate private loans into Federal student loans. If she were to consolidate the private/federal loans together - it would have to be into a NEW private loan - and she would therfore lose the federal protections her current federal loans have (IBR; loan forgiveness due to public service programs; deferment, etc..).
If she were to consolidate separately (new private loan to consolidate existing private loans; new federal loan to consolidate existing federal loans) - that still doesn't necessarily get her out of the issues with private loans - which is they will require payment for next 27 months and don't necessarily allow deferment for peace corp work/don't allow income based repayment.
Some private loan companies are much better than others, so it is possible there's a company out there that would offer better benefits, but still the general statement that private loans are awful and to be avoided if at all possible stands.
You can't consolidate private loans into Federal student loans. If she were to consolidate the private/federal loans together - it would have to be into a NEW private loan - and she would therfore lose the federal protections her current federal loans have (IBR; loan forgiveness due to public service programs; deferment, etc..).
If she were to consolidate separately (new private loan to consolidate existing private loans; new federal loan to consolidate existing federal loans) - that still doesn't necessarily get her out of the issues with private loans - which is they will require payment for next 27 months and don't necessarily allow deferment for peace corp work/don't allow income based repayment.
Some private loan companies are much better than others, so it is possible there's a company out there that would offer better benefits, but still the general statement that private loans are awful and to be avoided if at all possible stands.
My daughter made several calls yesterday, including to the Dept. of Education, and what Briolat explained was completely true. DD also has several student loans that are Federal loans and those are currently, and will be during her Peace Corps years, under a variety of very beneficial programs. The private loans that she took out through her University financial aide package do not qualify for any of those special programs.
It is what it is. My husband did not choose to start to develop brain damage/dementia in his late 40s which meant that he had to leave his professional job just after we had finished paying off our student loans from both our graduate school degrees and his law school degree (I'm exaggerating, but not by much) and we were just starting to "get ahead" with our long range financial plans. He also did not choose to become permanently disabled in his late 50s with two children in still in college.
It is what it is. I choose to assist in the care of my disabled mother numerous summers when I could have been teaching summer school and working other summer jobs to earn more money. It was a choice that I made at that time and I do not regret it. Hmmm, I wonder if that is where our children learned how to be so compassionate and loving?
It is what it is. I choose to help and assist in many ways, including (to a limited degree) financially, for decades to an elderly aunt living in poverty without a spouse or children who could help her. It was a choice that I made and I do not regret it. Hmmm, I wonder if that is where our children learned how to be so compassionate and loving?
It is what it is. I made a number of 2,000 miles round trips to monitor/assist/help my SIL & BIL when my in-laws were in rehab or seriously ill. It was tough financially but I felt that it was my responsibility to help in their care. Hmmm, I wonder if that is where our children learned how to be so compassionate and loving?
It is what it is. End of discussion about student loans. I will deal with it. I discussed it with my siblings and if the loans, or anything else, becomes too big a problem they will help. They are very supportive of DD's decision to join the Peace Corps.
When I have a chance I have a funny story to share.
Last edited by germaine2626; 08-25-2016 at 08:07 AM..
You can't consolidate private loans into Federal student loans. If she were to consolidate the private/federal loans together - it would have to be into a NEW private loan - and she would therfore lose the federal protections her current federal loans have (IBR; loan forgiveness due to public service programs; deferment, etc..).
If she were to consolidate separately (new private loan to consolidate existing private loans; new federal loan to consolidate existing federal loans) - that still doesn't necessarily get her out of the issues with private loans - which is they will require payment for next 27 months and don't necessarily allow deferment for peace corp work/don't allow income based repayment.
Actually, I DID consolidate my PRIVATE student loans with my FEDERAL student loans. Maybe they have changed the policy, but there have been people who have done it! All of my loans were consolidated with the US Dept of Ed are all now government loans.
Actually, I DID consolidate my PRIVATE student loans with my FEDERAL student loans. Maybe they have changed the policy, but there have been people who have done it! All of my loans were consolidated with the US Dept of Ed are all now government loans.
Posting this for any future readers (non-OP) to clarify any confusion:
Official government website on federal student loans, subsection "what loans can I consolidate?":
While a lot of loans are listed that CAN be consolidated, what is applicable here is the following statement:
"Private education loans are not eligible for consolidation."
So, this discussion is of little help to the OP except to underscore what options they DO NOT have.
Also it makes sense that a new federal loan could not be used to consolidate a private loan, as why would the government allow the benefits specific to it's loans be given to loans that did not meet its origination criteria?
There's lots of fun information on student loans on the government website (it's a really good website) and their customer service people can be quite helpful - I suggest anyone looking for information on federal student loans in the future check it out:
Funny story about making a Cameroonian vegetable dish -August 26
Funny story about making a Cameroonian vegetable dish -August 26
All of the Peace Corps volunteers that are placed in Cameroon are expected to be fluent in French when they arrive. To make sure that everyone's language experience is up to date they have a couple of hours of refresher assignments every week for three months before you leave the US. Some are refresher lessons on grammar, others are to post videos on line where you are introducing yourself or speaking on specific topic in French, some are written assignments and things like that.
Last week one of the assignments was to make a traditional Cameroonian main dish or dessert and of course the recipe and directions were all in French. DD noticed a vegetable dish that looked rather tasty. It had tomatoes, leeks, onions, sweet potatoes, garlic and some other vegetable called fallon. While DD had never heard of fallon she figured "How hard could it be to figure out?" Well, it ended up being pretty difficult.
From the recipe it was pretty clear that it was a leafy, green vegetable that needed to be boiled first before being added to the other vegetables that were gently seared/fried in light oil. First, she just checked on line with various French dictionaries, nope, no fallon anywhere. Then she emailed all of her native French speaking friends, nope, not even one person had any idea of what "fallon" could be. One friend even emailed his mother in France and she didn't know what it was.
By now DD was determined to find out what it was so she called a former co-worker who grew up in French West Africa. He had never heard of fallon, nor any vegetable whose name was even close to that.
So, DD decided that it must have been a mistake and they really meant chou vert (green cabbage) and accidentally typed fallon. It was a great meal.
Last edited by germaine2626; 08-26-2016 at 04:57 PM..
Funny story about making a Cameroonian vegetable dish -August 26
All of the Peace Corps volunteers that are placed in Cameroon are expected to be fluent in French when they arrive. To make sure that everyone's language experience is up to date they have a couple of hours of refresher assignments every week for three months before you leave the US. Some are refresher lessons on grammar, others are to post videos on line where you are introducing yourself or speaking on specific topic in French, some are written assignments and things like that.
Last week one of the assignments was to make a traditional Cameroonian main dish or dessert and of course the recipe and directions were all in French. DD noticed a vegetable dish that looked rather tasty. It had tomatoes, leeks, onions, sweet potatoes, garlic and some other vegetable called fallon. While DD had never heard of fallon she figured "How hard could it be to figure out?" Well, it ended up being pretty difficult.
From the recipe it was pretty clear that it was a leafy, green vegetable that needed to be boiled first before being added to the other vegetables that were gently seared/fried in light oil. First, she just checked on line with various French dictionaries, nope, no fallon anywhere. Then she emailed all of her native French speaking friends, nope, not even one person had any idea of what "fallon" could be. One friend even emailed his mother in France and she didn't know what it was.
By now DD was determined to find out what it was so she called a former co-worker who grew up in French West Africa. He had never heard of fallon, nor any vegetable whose name was even close to that.
So, DD decided that it must have been a mistake and they really meant chou vert (green cabbage) and accidentally typed fallon. It was a great meal.
Monday, August 29- Update on fallon
DD may have solved the "fallon" mystery. She is speculating that fallon is either the name of a locally grown vegetable in Cameroon or maybe it's a local nick-name or a slang term, in that area, that means "any leafy green vegetable". She will be able to find out soon as one week from today she will be leaving Washington DC and getting on a plane for Africa. It is interesting that she leaves on a Monday night, but does not arrive until Wednesday morning, but is only on an airports
Wow, has it been hectic with last minute details. But, I am trying to keep the usual routine going to keep hubby centered, calm and safe. You can tell that he will really miss our daughter but one of the joys (and sadnesses) of dementia is that he will quickly forgot about how much she was a part of life these past two years.
Last edited by germaine2626; 08-29-2016 at 08:05 AM..
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Funny story about making a Cameroonian vegetable dish -August 26
