Paying for college can be difficult for someone who isn't employed and is facing the ever increasing costs of tuition and college living. Lenders and loan consolidation companies are always looking for new ways to make it easier for students to pay off their loans, such as eliminating origination fees and cosigner release from the original debt. However, Simple Tuition is one of the few loan consolidation companies that makes it even easier for students to pay off their loans without bringing themselves closer and closer to bankruptcy.

DEBIT CARD PAYMENTS

Simple Tuition has teamed up with SmarterBank to create a new program for undergraduates and graduates who are struggling to pay for their consolidation fees. The program requires their participants to sign up for an online bank account and a Visa debit card. By making payments with this debit card, a percentage of the money spent will go towards a loan of the student's choice. The rates as 0.5% for the first 100 dollars spent and 1% added for any amount beyond that. Over time, this can add up, and it saves the student from accruing any further credit that will affect his credit score or his ability to get further loans.

SmarterBank also allows the student to be able to add friends and family to these debit cards, so that they can provide more money back towards the loans.

SmarterBank allows access to online stores which allows students to earn up to 10% of their purchases to be paid towards their student loans. This is certainly an easier way for students to generate money towards their student loans without taking out further loans to pay for those.

VARIETY OF REPAYMENT PLANS

Outside of use of this debit card, Simple Tuition also provides a variety of repayment plans that can be chosen from.

•  standard plan: fixed monthly payments for 10 years.
•   extended: monthly payments are extended for up to 30 years.
•   graduated: the rate of interest of payments increases over a period of two years.
•   income contingent: this is where monthly payments are based on how much income is being earned. Payment rates adjust accordingly each year according to the student's employment status and income.
•   income-based: the graduate must have 15% of income above 150% of federal poverty level for the borrower's residence to pay off the loans on a standard 10-year payment plan, and payments are usually 10% or less of the graduate's income.

Student Tuition

HELPFUL WEBSITE

Simple Tuition provides helpful links to other lenders for students who are researching and shopping around for the best rates. They also provide a helpful glossary so that certain terms in loans are easily defined to make it easier for the student to navigate the world of loans and interest rates.

Simple Tuition does have some drawbacks, such as their confusing percentage rates of 3.25% to 11.5%, which is a high differentiating factor, and it is not made clear why this range is so high. Another is determining if the attending school is within the list of schools they provide loans for. However, these are only website issues. Otherwise, there are not major problems or critiques with their consolidation program.

Simple Tuition is a simple, easy and new way of providing funds for consolidated loans, especially through the use of a debit card and online shopping.