Consolidate Student Loans and Credit Cards

by Mack Bartlett

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I don’t think most high school seniors fully grasp what they’re getting into when they go to college. And I’m not talking about the classes, choosing a major, trying to decide what career you want to go into when you graduate, the parties – I’m not talking about any of that.

I’m talking about money. In business when you talk about fully loaded costs you’re talking about factoring in every single penny that goes into the operation of your business. Most kids don’t know what the fully loaded costs of college are, because it goes way beyond tuition.

Of course they still go, and they get their degree (a lot of them do anyway), and what do they end up with? Debt. Mountains of debt.

Here are a couple of statistics to prove the point*:

  • As of 2004, the average graduate student had six credit cards and one in seven owes more than $15,000.
  • In 2004, the average college student graduated with $16,500 in student loans, up 74% since 1997.
  • *According to CreditCards.com.

    That’s a lot of debt, and a lot of kids are carrying it at high interest rates. If they don’t do something about those interest rates, they could be in that debt for the rest of their lives. Or worse, they file for bankruptcy. That’s why so many graduating college students are looking to consolidate student loans and credit cards.

    How to Find a Consolidation Company for Student Loans and Credit Cards

    I can tell you this – there are about a billion of them out there. I got out of school over three years ago and I’m still getting offers in the mail from companies trying to help me “save thousands in student loan payments”. I also get stacks of offers from credit card companies offering lines of credit to consolidate my credit cards.

    It’s pretty much this simple – look around. Use google. Use consumer reports. Find a company that is going to truly save you a lot of money by consolidating your debt for you. I can tell you it will usually be in your best interest to do some kind of student loan consolidation program, because they can get you really low rates.

    You have to watch them on the fee side. I’m not saying they shouldn’t make money. I’m saying they shouldn’t set you back a couple years of payments just to get you set up with your new plan. They’ll make plenty of money on the other side of your loans, because they can sell them off to other debt companies. Consult with a finance professor or an accountant for advice on which offer is the right one for your circumstances.

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