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Meet Marc
- Age: 25
- Schooling: Associate's degree from a 2-year community college; currently working on his bachelor's degree at a 4-year state college
- Major: Internet Technology
- Loan debt: $21,400 federal (distributed among five loans, both FFELP and Direct Loans)
Marc's situation
Although not yet in repayment, Marc knows he's facing multiple bills when he finally gets out of school. And Marc can't stand bills…
Read Marc's story
Marc is working hard at school. Since he got an associate's degree before pursuing a bachelor's, he feels like he's been going to school forever. And he's already five loans into it! Fortunately, he's not paying on any of these loans yet, since he got an in-school deferment for his older FFELP (Federal Family Education Loan Program) Loans.
But even though he's not making any payments, Marc gets a bunch of interest statements every month, showing how much interest he owes on each of his unsubsidized loans. It drives him nuts (not to mention how many trees get hurt!) that he gets five different interest statements.
He wishes he could combine all of his loan stuff into one easy-to-read and easy-to-pay format. He can't keep track of everything when there is so much to juggle.
Marc CAN deal with it
- Marc should explore loan consolidation. If Marc wants just one bill to pay, he may want to consider consolidating his federal loans. If Marc consolidates before July 1, 2011, he may consolidate while he is still in school, but he will lose his 6-month grace period when he graduates and will have to start paying his loans immediately. If he doesn't want to forfeit his grace, he may want to wait to consolidate until after he leaves school.
If Marc misses the July 1, 2011 deadline—the date on which the government's rules about in-school consolidation change—he can consolidate only after he's in grace or repayment. - Marc should find out if his servicer offers paperless billing. Paperless billing will keep Marc's mailbox empty and save some trees. Going paperless is a convenient and environmentally friendly way to manage your loans online.
- Marc has time to think about using Direct Debit. Marc doesn't really need to set up Direct Debit until his loans go into repayment, so he still has time to investigate and see if it's a good fit for him. Through Direct Debit, Marc's loan payments are automatically deducted from the savings or checking account of his choice. So he won't need to juggle multiple bills and statements. It's all automatic.