Fitch Publishes Presale Report on Straight-A Funding LLC Student Loan ABCP Program

NEW YORK - (Business Wire) Fitch Ratings has published a presale report describing the student loan short-term notes (SLST notes) issued by Straight-A Funding, LLC's (Straight-A) ABCP program. Straight-A's fully-supported ABCP program is being created pursuant to the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act (ECASLA or the Act). Earlier this year, Fitch issued a press release indicating that it expects to rate the notes 'F1+'. The expected rating is based on the application of Fitch's ABCP criteria, the full credit and liquidity support mechanism provided by the Federal Financing Bank (FFB), the quality of assets being purchased, the legal structure and the program's administrative support.

On Oct. 7, 2008, the Bush Administration extended ECASLA for one year. Among other provisions, the Act grants lenders the option to put student loans to the Department of Education under certain conditions. Straight-A will be one of a number of initiatives that have been implemented under the Act by the U.S. Departments of Education and Treasury together with the Office of Management and Budget. The government's stated intention is to continue to provide families with access to federally guaranteed student loans. As conditions to participating in the ABCP program, student loan lenders generally agree to originate and disburse, or acquire government guaranteed student loans and conduct activities constituting a continued participation in FFELP within a twenty-four month period after selling or pledging loans to the program.

Through its ABCP program, Straight-A may issue two series of SLST notes (Series-1 and Series-2). Series-1 SLST notes may be issued with expected maturities of up to 90 days and legal final maturities on the 3rd business day following the expected maturity. Series-2 SLST notes may be issued with expected maturities of up to 90 days and legal final maturities on the seventh business day following the expected maturity. The proceeds of the issuance will be used to fund the purchase of 'AAA' rated funding notes backed by FFELP student loans. The funding notes will be issued by special purpose vehicles sponsored by student loan lenders.

SLST noteholders will benefit from full credit and liquidity support provided by the FFB. The FFB is a U.S. government corporation. The support mechanisms will be sized to cover the face amount of SLST notes being funded by the borrowing plus any interest accrued and to accrue to the legal final maturity of the notes. Further, Straight-A has entered into a put agreement with the Department of Education (the Department) whereby, following the occurrence of certain events (among them being a failure by the liquidity provider to make a liquidity funding), Straight-A will put student loans to the Department, and the Department is obligated to purchase them 45 days after receipt of notice of the put.

The program is being arranged by Citigroup Global Markets Inc and Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated. The Bank of New York Mellon will act as the conduit administrator. The program's manager has yet to be determined.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.

Fitch Ratings, New YorkKevin Corrigan, +1-212-908-9156Darryl

Osojnak, +1-212-908-0602Michael

Dean, +1-212-908-0556

Dina Meireles, +1-212-908-0897

Media RelationsSandro Scenga, +1-212-908-0278

sandro.scenga@fitchratings.com

Student Loans Are Getting Denied Due To Bad Credit

by Tim Beachum

Ask any high school senior what their credit score is and they will reply with a Huh? After all this response should be too surprising. Most high school seniors are to busy for trivial things such as credit scores and student loans. Then the flags go up when they find out that do to their poor credit scores they cannot get a standard student loan. This is the point where most students begin to get discouraged.

If you should find yourself in this predicament the first thing that you should do is start hunting down a co-signer. In most cases you are met with rejection when you approach someone to be a co-signer. However when asking someone to co-sign for a student loan they are usually a little more acceptable. Make sure that you approach your prospect with your career plans in hand.

Do not take locating a cosigner lightly. This option is extremely advantageous to you. If you do happen to find a cosigner lender will take their credit history into consideration instead of yours. What this translates out to mean for you is lower interest rates. If a young student has a poor credit rating this may very well be their best option.

Ok its a swing and a miss You give it your best shot and you still cannot find a qualified co-signer. You next best option for a student loan is to contact banks as well as other lending institutions. Your goal by doing so is to find out if there are any alternative methods of financing your education. Many times these lending institutions will have a high interest rate solution. I bet you seen that one coming a mile away!

Once you finally find a loan that works for your situation dont start to think about it to deeply. Thinking about those high interest rates is not where your focus needs to be at this point in your life. Look at it this way - most college courses take 4-5 years for a student to complete. This is more than enough time for you to reestablish your credit at which time you can refinance your high interest rate loan for one with a much lower rate.

There is one more option I would like to make you aware of. That option is known as a combination loan or a combo loan. What it does is allows the student to consolidate all of their debts and apply for one big loan that will cover everything. By using the combination technique chances are you will end up with a fairly lower interest rate.

Hold on a second! Stop the presses! I almost forgot about two loans that are primarily geared towards those that may be having some financial hardships. Those loans are known as the Stafford Loan and The Perkins Loan.

It is important to keep in mind that even in a worse case scenario, obtaining a student loan or a scholarship is nothing more than a numbers game. If you were to go online and apply for every student loan and scholarship program that you can find you will be approved for a few of them. You will be blown away at the number of available loans and scholarships that you can apply for. The fact of the matter is you just may end up getting a free ride regardless of your financial situation. The key to your success is to avoid being discouraged and to keep plowing forward.

About the Author:Before you do anything regarding your bad credit student loan make sure you check out Tim Beachum’s website Bad Credit Student Loans website. You can get a unique content version of this article from the Uber Article Directory.

Why You Should Consolidate Your Student Loans

by Dennis Powell

Recent college grads and former students will find many benefits to consolidating their student loans. Frequently set up during the initial grace period after the borrower leaves school, consolidation programs offer the borrower a chance to reduce payments, lock in a fixed interest rate, and extend payment terms if necessary.

Student Loan Consolidation is a great way to simplify payment options. The typical student leaves school with loans from a variety of sources. By using a single consolidation loan, you can reduce the stress of keeping track of different monthly payments and payoff schedules by rolling all of your loans into a single package.

Student loan consolidation programs also offer a way for the borrower to lock in a single fixed competitive interest rate for the duration of the loan. Fixed rate loans give the borrower the ability to plan for their future since they know up-front how much their payment will be each and every month. The single loan also makes life easier when calculating interest deductions at tax time, since the borrower only has to review one piece of information rather than scrambling to find how much interest they paid to each of several different vendors.

Lower monthly payments are also possible with a student consolidation loan. By reducing the number of lenders you are working with the borrower can often get a single payment that is lower than the sum of all of their other payments. Sometimes you can reduce this number even more by selecting the automatic payment option which will automatically make payments each month out of the bank account you designate.

Consolidated student loans allow the borrower to extend their payment terms. Extended terms can help push monthly payments even lower - a big help for recent grads who are just starting their careers. As the borrower advances in their career, they can refinance the loan or make additional payments to pay off the financing earlier if they choose.

There are many benefits to securing a student loan consolidation program. Especially for recent grads just starting out on their career path, reduced monthly payments, fixed interest rates, and simplified record keeping provide borrowers with the tools they need to make a successful transition once they have completed their formal education.

About the Author:

Consolidate your student loans to save time and money. Dennis Powell specializes in writing about federal government student loan consolidation.

Government Student Loans For Starters

There are many factors that you must think about if you want to request government student loans. These loans are overseen by the government, and have a set criteria that needs to be met in order for you to be eligible to request that loan. However, as they are government controlled, several universities are more inclined to work with individuals with this source of financing rather than those who are working exclusively with private loans.

When you apply for government student loans, there are two primary styles that you will work with. The first type is for individuals who wish to register without a parent. The second style needs a co-signer. Within both of these two types, there are several offers for the government student loans. The primary differences in the several offers is where the funding is issued from. Some programs have the funding coming directly from government finances gathered from tax payer funds, while other programs borrow cash from financial institutions in order to finance your loan.

The first requirement for government student loans is credit. Credit is the foundation in which the government evaluates to judge if you are at great risk of returning money to the student loan. If you do not have a credit history, either good or bad, you will commonly need a guardian to be allowed to acquire the loan. If you have bad credit, a co-signer will be required and that individual will be legally accountable for whether or not you pay the funds owed to the government.

Government student loans are predetermined in how much money they will give out to people. The amount is determined by which year of schooling you are in. There are a few situations where you can go beyond the typical maximum loan. However, in these types of government student loans, you will typically pay interest from the time the government gives the school the funding until it is paid off. This is known as an unsubsidized loan, and can be among the most expensive types of funding there are.

The interest rate that you return for government student loans is usually fixed for the life of the loan. However, the rate that you pay will be determined by the current financial standings of the government. Usually, the offer prevents interest rates from growing too costly, as this is against what the federal loans for students program was created for.

No Credit Student Loan

No credit student loans are one of the most usual class of loans that are available in the America. Because quite a few high school students do not have credit cards or have acquired any items, like cars, that build their credit rating, the vast majority of applicants do not have established credit to work with. Due to this, quite a few of the programs acquirable to people are no credit student loans that use the credit history of a co-signer to determine the chances that you will pay back the loan.

There are several things you want to keep in mind when studying no credit student loans. First, these financings generally have greater interest rates than those for individuals that have established their own credit history. You will require a parent to go through the document with you and sign when you do. This makes the parent equally responsible for the loan. If you default on the loan, the credit history of your co-signer, as well as yourself, is negatively affected. The guardian of no credit student loans will typically aid in ensuring you pay the loan, as loans of this style can quickly ruin a good credit history. As a good credit history is needed for car financing, mortgages and other loans, the parent will work hard to make certain the installments are paid. Banks and similar financial institutions gamble on this truth, which is why the parent required no credit student loans are so common and standardly used.

When you sign for no credit student loans, you will need to be cautious of several things. First, you will need to be aware of the grace period for the loan. The majority of student loans give a six month grace period after you graduate school or stop attending full time. It is your responsibility to know when you need to begin making payments back to the loan. While your co-signer will be notified, it is your responsibility to ensure that the funds reaches the provider by the date owing on each invoicing period. Forgetting to do this puts negative marks on your credit history, as well as on the credit rating of your guardian.

There are no credit student loans included as part of the federal financial aid packages, as well as through private lenders. Typically, you will use both federal and private financing to pay for your education.

[Student Loan for Beginners]

Students don't read the fine print on their loans

Recent study showed that over the past decade the amount of graduating seniors’ loan debt increased to 108 percent nationally. Approximately 54 percent of CSUN students have taken out federal loans, according to Gregorio Alcantar, a financial aid advisor. About 20 percent of all private loans are being used nationwide by four-year college undergraduates, graduate students and parent loans found the institute.

Although federal loans are available for students who fill out their FAFSA regardless of their income, government representatives are considering raising the amount students can borrow, according to Edie Irons, TICAS communications director. Irons believes the government should step in and rescue the students. Adding that financial aid is attractive to students who want to avoid taking out a federal loan, much less a private loan.

During the past five years tuition and fees at public universities have risen by 57% nationally. This semester, students did get the money they were promised by Cal Grant if they were eligible but the payments were delayed due to a lack of funding from the state.

While a recent report made by the California Faculty Association, shows that nearly 2.6 million Californian undergraduate students faced an average of $1,723 per student. Tution and fees at public universities have risen 57 percent nationally. Even though eligible students get money from Cal Grants, the payments were delayed due to a lack of state funding.

[Daily Sundial]

ASK THE EXPERT

As told to Plain Dealer reporter Teresa Dixon Murray

Higher education is the top investment we can make in ourselves and our future. Even in the best of times, most families pay for college through a patchwork of savings, current income, loans, grants, scholarships and/or work-study from federal and private sources. A little effort can pay off big time in closing your daughter's $12,000-per-year gap through one or more of the following sources:

Federal aid

The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is the tool to explore every federal parent and student loan, grant and work-study financial aid option. Early in each new year is the perfect time to complete the FAFSA at fafsa.ed.gov. )

Grants are the best type of federal aid. They don't need to be repaid. Think of grants as gifts. Examples include the federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Occupation Grant (FSEOG) and the National SMART Grant for high-achieving students in math and science.

Next best are work-study opportunities (as long as a job doesn't interfere with academics), and need-based Perkins and Subsidized Stafford loans for students, and PLUS loans for parents. Need-based loans have the lowest interest rates and deferred repayment options.

Last but not least is the Unsubsidized Stafford loan, which is not based on financial need. Many families qualify for this type of federal student aid. The interest rate is competitive, but repayment is not postponed or subsidized by the government as with the Subsidized Stafford.

After filing the FAFSA, you will receive a "Student Aid Report" summarizing the aid available for the coming school year. Aid is granted one year at a time.

[Read full article via Cleveland]

Fight the Financial Crisis With Student Loan Consolidation

The financial crisis that is sweeping not only our country, but the entire world, is causing most people to feel burdened as they continue working but paying out higher costs just to live. If you have an adjustable rate mortgage, chances are you are really struggling to make ends meet and keep your home at the same time. Add on thousands of dollars in student loans that you are paying on, and you are probably feeling like you are at the end of your rope. You can fight the fallout of the financial crisis by consolidating your student loans.

Student loan debt is often upwards of $50,000 by the time a student graduates. Entry-level positions that the graduate takes after they receive their degree often do not pay enough for the student to meet all of their living expenses as well as pay monthly payments to multiple student loan lenders. Falling behind on your student loans, however, can affect not only your credit rating, but can also cause your tax refund to be taken each year and could even result in garnishment of your wages.

Although each state differs in their garnishment laws, most are barbaric to say the least. In the state of Kentucky, for example, a weekly garnishment order allows the garnishee to keep only $154.50 of their weekly income- the rest goes to the creditor who is owed money. No one can live on that amount of money. Also, student loan debt does not qualify for dismissal in bankruptcy proceedings - so this is a debt that will haunt you pay or you become disabled or die.

Consolidate Now - Avoid Potential Negative Consequences

You can avoid all of these instances by consolidating now. A student loan consolidation works much the same as any other consolidation loan. You will take out a new loan that covers all of your pre-existing balances on your student loans and pays them off in full. In turn, you will pay your new lender one payment each month for all of the money they have loaned to you. It is a very simple process, and one that can save you hundreds each month that you can use for other things - like paying your mortgage or buying groceries.

Government Consolidation Can Save You Money

There are various sources for student loan consolidation. An often overlooked source is the United States Department of Education. To qualify for loan consolidation through this government agency, you must have had a federal education loan, such as a Stafford or Perkins loan - which most students do.

Doing your student loan consolidation with the U.S. Department of Education can save you tons of money because the rates they charge are often less than what you will pay with other student loan consolidation services, and there are often friendlier terms offered by the government in the instance that you might go into forbearance on your student loans, or even become disabled.
Government consolidation loans will take into account your current income, size of your family and number of dependents. You can consolidate for up to thirty years, or for as few as twelve. All students looking to consolidate should consider checking with the Department of Education while shopping for their student loan consolidation servicer.

Additional Online Savings

Private lenders also offer consolidation services for student loan borrowers. There are many fine and reputable lenders who will consolidate your student loans with great rates and affordable monthly payment options. A number of these lenders do their business online via the Internet, and are certainly worth looking into.