While college may be costly, investing in your education means investing in your future.
Fortunately, Great Lakes understands educational needs and offers everyone the opportunity to continue their learning path, without worrying about finances.
Among other services, Great Lakes offers support for federal loan borrowers, schools, and other business partners. So, let’s find out more about how Great Lake can help you too.
Options and Features of Each
With Great Lakes, you will no longer have to worry about paying back your federal student loans. While recent college graduates face higher unemployment rates, there are multiple options that Great Lakes offer to support you even through the hardest financial times.
In other words, finding a job may be hard (and they know it), but they will always trust your educational decisions, and they know you will eventually make it. So here is how you can pay back your student loans after graduating.
If you find a job right after graduating, or you have a source of income, then you have three great options to reimburse your loans.
- The standard plan is perfectly balanced and will offer you a lower interest, but enough time for you not to feel overwhelmed with this monthly expense. You will pay a monthly installment for the next 10 years after graduating.
- The extended repayment plan is available for students whose balance exceeds $30,000 and will allow you to pay the loans over 25 years. Compared to the standard plan, the longer it takes for you to pay back the loan, the higher the interest goes.
- Income-driven plan means that your monthly payments will be set according to your income. Moreover, the timeframe in which you can pay back the loans can be extended to 25 years.
It is also worth mentioning that, regardless of the plan you choose, when it comes to the standard and the extended plans, you have two options.
- A fixed and a graduated rate: this means that you can opt for the same amount of money to pay back each month.
- Graduated rate: this means you can have lower payments in the first years that will gradually increase (usually, every two years, but this may vary).
As we mentioned, paying back your student loans can be difficult. Great Lakes understands that aspect and has developed ways to help those that struggle with financial problems. Here is what you can do if you find yourself in this situation.
- Deferment: Postponing payments for a longer period is not the end of the world, as long as you inform Great Lakes about it. If, for various reasons, you find it difficult to pay back your loan for a longer period, just give them a call, and they will most certainly help you. Plus, if you provide good reasons (backed up by documents), your request will never be turned down.
- Forbearance: You may get temporary relief by requesting forbearance. As opposed to deferment, this is not automatically granted, but usually, you will find understanding, and you will be given enough time to get back on your feet.
- Consolidation: This option is extremely helpful if you have multiple student loans, and you want to take advantage of a fixed rate and a longer period. Moreover, instead of paying your installments at different days of the month, you will only pay once a month by consolidating your loans.
Who is Eligible and How to Qualify?
Qualifying for a repayment plan that is tailored to your income may be easier than you thought. However, there are certain requirements that you have to meet to be eligible for one.
In most of the cases, to qualify for an Income-Driven Repayment plan, you should be the direct borrower and sometimes provide some sort of proof of financial hardship. However, certain plans require particular aspects to be met.
For instance, you can apply for an Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan, even if you do not struggle with your finances.
How to Apply
To identify the right repayment plan for you, we strongly encourage you to use this planner offered by Great Lakes. In order to apply, you can click here and follow the steps.
Summary
Paying back your student loans does not have to be stressful. Even when you find it hard to pay for your monthly installments, the best course of action is to contact Great Lakes, and they will certainly find a solution for you.
Meanwhile, you should focus on getting back on track with your finances and worry about your loans later.