FACT:

Not true. While it may seem complicated or time consuming, the process of consolidating Federal student loans is rather simple. What makes it seem complicated is the wide variety of eligible loans, repayment options, deferment vs. forbearance issues, grace period benefits, and so on.

However, at SBS, it's our job to know all of this information backwards and forwards. Our Student Loan Consultants will be happy to walk you through the application process, providing superb counsel every step of the way.

FACT:

Not true. On July 1, 2006, student loan consolidation interest rates posted a sharp increase, which meant that any consolidation application generated on or after July 1st would be funded at the new (higher) rate. However, according to the U.S. Department of Education, if you have "substantially completed" a student loan consolidation application prior to July 1, 2006, you may still qualify for the lower pre-July 1 interest rate, even at this late date!

The benefit? Save potentially thousands more in interest fees!

For an application to be considered "substantially completed," you must have provided any student loan consolidation company with enough information to generate an application which was sent or emailed to you for signature. That means that even if you applied with another student loan consolidation company before the July 1st date, SBS may still be able to honor your rate.

To find out if you can still consolidate under the lower rate, please be sure to contact Student Benefit Services toll-free at 1-866-652-2121 or email us. It is not known when the Department of Education will rescind this special rate exemption, so be sure to immediately contact us to finalize your application now.

FACT:

It depends if your college has entered into a "school as lender" deal with student loan companies. If your college has signed up with private lenders and a state lending agency, your school may earn a guaranteed profit from the lenders for each Federal student loan. According to an article in the 10/27/03 issue of US News & World Reports, this situation "...poses a conflict of interest for financial aid officers, who are supposed to serve as objective counselors, steering students to the best aid packages."

Now we're not saying that all financial aid officers aren't diligent about helping you. However, SBS is not affiliated with any bank or lender, so we don't face conflict of interest with anyone. You can rest assured that we'll provide objective and unbiased counsel on the best loan consolidation package that's right for you.

FACT:

Not entirely true. If you are in graduate school, you can consolidate your undergraduate school loans. If you're in a post-graduate program, such as medical school or law school, you can consolidate your undergraduate and graduate school loans! If you have already consolidated your undergraduate loans, and are about to leave graduate school, you may be eligible to consolidate both undergraduate and graduate loans into one payment!

Not sure if you qualify for consolidation? Contact us by email or by phone toll-free at 1-866-652-2121 and we'll be happy to help

FACT:

Not true. You can, indeed, maintain the exact same terms and monthly repayment amount as your original student loans. (This is a good idea, since you may be able to pay off your consolidated loan even faster!)

We'll be able to help you decide what terms and monthly payments are right for your particular situation.

FACT:

Absolutely not true. Deferment and forbearance are two legitimate tools to help you manage your cash flow as you pay off your loans and avoid default.

At SBS, we recognize that the cost of higher education these days is astronomical. As we review your student loan consolidation profile, our SBS Student Loan Consultants may counsel you to take further advantage of deferment or forbearance!

FACT:

Not true. If you have already consolidated your William D. Ford Direct Loan, you are eligible to consolidate again! By law, the Federal government is prohibited from offering the same repayment discounts as the FFELP community, which allows you to receive a lower interest rate, which can lower your overall cost of borrowing even more.

You can also reconsolidate if you either received a new eligible loan since the consolidation or have left an eligible loan out of the original consolidation. An existing consolidation loan with no other eligible debt may be able to be refinanced through our repayment discount program.

If you have any questions about your eligibility, please call on of our Student Loan Consultants at 1-866-652-2121.

FACT:

It depends. The benefit of loan consolidation is that you can extend the term (length of time) to repay your loan, at a lower fixed rate of interest, which can lower your monthly payments. However, over the life of the loan, the increase in the actual number of monthly payments could increase your overall costs.

When you work with us, we'll identify ways to not only lower your interest rate but also help you find ways to reduce the total cost of borrowing. (See extend terms above, for example.)

FACT:

Are you sure you have a single lender and not a single servicer? Yes, there is a difference! Federal regulation requires that if your student loans are held by one single lender, such as a bank, credit union, the federal government, insurance company, or the school itself, you MUST consolidate those loans with that lender under the lender's consolidation terms.

However, many times SBS has helped thousands of students who thought they only had one lender as well. More often than not we have found that borrowers make their payments to servicers and not the lenders, which may open up the opportunity for you to consolidate your loans. Call SBS and we'll find out if you qualify for consolidation.

FACT:

Not true. Every lender has the exact same interest rates for your loans. The rates for student loans are based on the 91-day Treasury bill and are set each July 1st for one year. So, the interest rate you get is exactly the rate you are or will be paying to your current lenders.

If another company offers you a different rate, then they are most likely guessing based on when you went to school and what type of loans you have. We on the other hand take all of the guesswork out of the equation and verify all your loan balances and interest rates.

In addition, other companies may not be using every single possible way to lower your interest rate or overall cost of student loan borrowing. At SBS, we go beyond just processing your application, offering you additional benefits that you may not find anywhere else. Contact SBS now before you consolidate with anyone else; there's no obligation to find out just how good we are!