1. Your Grace Period
When you graduate you are given a 6 month grace period before you have to start making your loan payments. When you consolidate your loans, you must waive any remaining grace period. This sounds like a bad thing but remember this is not a “free period.” Your loans will continue to gather interest on the unsubsidized portions whether you are making the payments or not. So while it s true that you are not required to make any payments for that six month period many students choose to in order to keep their balances from growing.
You may also begin the consolidation process and opt to retain your grace period. Your application is processed and ready for funding but is not actually funded until shortly before your grace period ends. This is a good way to keep your grace period without having to worry about forgetting to apply or not applying in time.
2. Lower Monthly Payments
All federal Stafford, PLUS and Graduate PLUS loans are issued with a 10 year term. This results in a high monthly payment. When you consolidate your student loans, you can increase the term of your loan up to 30 years, greatly reducing your monthly payments.
There are good and bad aspects to increasing your loan term, but they are completely under your control. Increasing the loan term means you will pay more in interest in the long term IF you make the minimum payment for the life of the loan. However, since there are no prepayment penalties you can pay your student loan off at any time. The lower payments of a consolidation can be a great help in the first couple of years after graduation until your salary catches up with your education. Once you have reached your full earning potential you can start making larger payments which will reduce the term of your loan and keep your interest costs down.
3. Graduation
At this time federal law does not allow in school consolidations. This shouldn t have much impact on students since you are not required to make loan payments while you are still enrolled in school. It can be helpful to have a consolidation lender in mind and your application process started before graduation though to give you one less thing to worry about in the hectic months after leaving school.
4. Loan Forgiveness
Depending on what area your degree is in, you may be eligible for loan forgiveness. Laws and programs vary by state so you will have to check your state s particular rules, but in general students who work in areas that serve the public, especially in low income areas, are generally eligible for loan forgiveness. Consolidation does not affect your ability to qualify for loan forgiveness with Stafford loans. Perkins loans on the other hand can not be forgiven if they are consolidated. Be sure to discuss this with your consolidation representative when considering student loan consolidation.
5. Number of Separate Lenders
You may find yourself with several different creditors upon graduation. Consolidating them all into one loan has a few benefits. First, you only have to make one payment a month, making your loan easier to manage. Second, having fewer lenders will help your credit score.
5. Payment Plans
Generally your loans have a set payment plan that was established when you took them out and it is usually just a flat payment for the life of the loan. Consolidation offers several different repayment options including graduated payments, extended payments and income sensitive payments. Having choices makes it easier to make your scheduled on time payments.
6. Deferral and Forbearance
All federal loans have the benefit of 3 years of deferral and 3 years of forbearance this does not change when they are consolidated. In fact, if you have used any of your deferral or forbearance it is renewed to 3 years each upon consolidation.
7. Repayment Incentives
There are a lot of lenders out there who offer many different repayment incentives. Be sure that you weigh out all the options before you decide which company you are going to use. Make sure that you are getting the most savings on your consolidation. Buyer beware: lenders offering a cash back incentive generally give you smaller savings in the long run. Make sure that you weigh out all available plans before you decide which company you are going to be using.
8. Interest Rates
Many student loans are still on a variable rate and it has been steadily increasing over the last couple of years. The only way to fix the interest rate on these loans is to consolidate them. Since the interest rates have been climbing over the last few years it is best to consolidate before the rates increase again on July 1. When consolidating the interest rate is determined by a federally regulated weighted average of your loans current interest rates. One thing to be aware of is if one of your loans has a significantly higher rate it could throw off your other loans. Make sure your loan advisor goes over your interest rates with you to determine the best way to consolidate.
A consolidation is easy and free for you. It requires no credit check or even employment. There are few drawbacks to a consolidation and they can all be managed or avoided by working with a reliable, trustworthy loan advisor. Is it right for you? The best way to find out is to speak with a knowledgeable loan advisor who can go over your individual loans with you and help you determine your best course of action.
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“The creation of the universe remains unexplained by any force, field, power, potency, influence, or instrumentality known to physics–or to man,” David Berlinski, an evolutionist, once said (Berlinski 37).
Even with the evolutionary theory, evolutionists are still in doubt about the beginning of the universe. This dubious theory becomes even more unstable when evolutionists are faced with the problem of thermodynamics. The evolutionary theory contradicts the proven laws of thermodynamics, thus giving evidence for a Creator.
James Prescott Joule and Hermann von Helmholtz developed the First Law of Thermodynamics (Thall), which is defined as, “Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only change form.” The Second Law, “Isolated systems will become more disordered with time,” (Wieland 9) was discovered by Sadi Carnot in 1824 (Thall). Creation scientists believe these two laws deem evolution impossible.
Primarily, the First Law of Thermodynamics concerns energy. Energy is defined as “the ability to do work.” Work is “the product of the displacement of an object and the component of the applied force that is parallel to the displacement.” (Wile 251) Combining the definitions then, energy is the ability, or force required to move an object in any way or manner. According to the first law, this energy cannot be created. However, evolutionists believe the creation of energy remains possible in small situations on earth, as long as earth receives more energy from the sun (Taylor 4). Mutations, the formation of crystals, and the growth of living organisms are said to create energy.
Evolution is largely based on the concept of mutations and random changes to an organism s DNA sequence which advances, or changes the organism for the better. Eventually, after many mutations and long amounts of time, a new species develops. A mutation occurs when a portion of the genes reproduces with an error. For example, a strand of DNA will occasionally add an extra toe on a frog, or even a fifth leg on a cow. Many times the animal dies because the mutation is not helpful and actually harms the creature. Even human mutations are very harmful.
Trisomy 21, or more commonly known as Downs Syndrome, is one example of a human mutation which occurs because the afflicted person has an extra twenty-first chromosome. Victims are mentally challenged and often physically handicapped. The evolutionary theory claims energy, or information is added to the DNA in a mutation. Energy, however, is not created in this process because no new strands attach to the DNA (Wieland 10).
Evolutionists also claim the formation of salt crystals from salt water creates energy (Wieland 9). According to the evolutionary theory, NaCl molecules gain information when they become crystals. Contrarily, the process salt goes through does not create energy. Molecules of salt dissolve in water and join together to form crystals. Attractions pull the atoms and molecules together based on their molecular structure. However, a salt crystal is composed of molecules exactly like those that aren t in a crystal form. Crystals are simply many NaCl molecules linked together in a rigid structure, predetermined by God. Energy is not created in the process, but is actually used.
Since energy cannot be created or destroyed, where does it go? Energy can only change form, but it seems to decrease, or disappear, in certain situations. Whenever any kind of work is done, or movement is preformed, energy is used. That energy changes form and usually can be reused. However whenever motion occurs, friction affects the moving objects. Friction takes energy from the objects and converts it to heat. Heat, created by friction, is a form of energy that, in small situations like the formation of crystals, cannot be reused to perform another act of motion or work (Wile 272). This loss of energy occurs in everything that moves and is why someone cannot throw a baseball that travels on forever. In spite of this, evolutionists still believe energy can be created by growing organisms.
Plants and living creatures behave in a similar fashion to salt crystals. Seeds grow into plants, bushes, or trees. Evolutionists believe plants create energy and information in order to grow from a simple seed into a huge complex organism (Wieland 10). Plants, however, draw energy from nutrients in the ground and absorb energy from the sun. Then the organism uses that energy to grow in a specific pattern. Unlike what evolutionists believe, the genetic code for each plant already exists in the seed. An acorn from an Oak tree never grows into a Walnut tree! The information, or code, organisms follow is called Teleonomy (”Physics and Evolution”).
Creationists believe Teleonomy existed at the beginning of time, when God created the world. The genetic code for an organism contains information for survival, behavior, and reproduction, which has been passed down through each species since the garden of Eden. Because genes have a range of programmed responses to the environment and to situations, variety can develop within a species (”Physics and Evolution”). For example, the genes for a pea, may allow the pea to either be tall or short, with tall being more probable. When one of the offspring is short, the pea plant does not have new DNA. No new information is added by this unusual behavior. Changes are simply allowed in the range of genes. Eventually, some organism s genes became isolated and resulted in the diversity observable within species today.
For another example, God probably created one type of dog. Those dogs contained all the information for all the breeds of dogs seen today. Over time, those genes dropped out of some dogs and became more prominent in others causing the drastic differences we see between breeds like Saint Bernards and poodles. God created each species with its own Teleonomy. The NIV version of Genesis 1:25 tells us, “God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kind.” (The Student Bible). Each species is unique and diverse from all the others species cannot change from one to another, or into a new species. The Bible makes this very clear. The first chapter of Genesis records the phrase “according to their kinds” ten times!
The Second Law of Thermodynamics also brings problems for evolution. The second law says, “Isolated systems will become more disordered with time,” as mentioned above. What then is a system? A system is any section of the universe chosen for observation (Wieland 10). An isolated system has no effect on other systems, and is not affected by other systems. Evolution states that as time progresses, systems, or the entire universe, which is a system, increases in order or becomes more complex (Taylor 2).
This belief directly contradicts the Second Law of Thermodynamics. However, evolutionists instead turn the same argument against creationists. They argue that Creation contradicts the Laws of Thermodynamics because the creation of things increases order. Evolutionists even claim Jesus resurrection was impossible under the same principle (Morris a). Indeed these two incidents appear to violate the laws and actually do, but God established thermodynamics and He alone can alter them. In the beginning, God created thermodynamics, thus Creation itself remained outside the laws, because thermodynamics didn t take effect until Creation was complete. The resurrection occurred because God intervened in His Creation and only His supernatural power can alter the laws of physics. Colossians 1:15-17 tells us, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities all things were created by him and for him” (The Student Bible). God created it, and He can change it. Evolution, however, cannot.
Another problem the Second Law of Thermodynamics brings for evolutionists concerns the Law of Entropy. Entropy is “a measure of the amount of disorder or randomness in a system” (”Entropy”). Entropy, then, is the disorder mentioned in the definition of the second law. Entropy always remains constant or increases. When entropy increases, disorder increases. Evolutionists claim that since planet Earth receives energy from the sun, decreases in entropy and in disorder can occur (Patterson). To an extent, this holds true.
John Patterson said, “If the entropy changes of the system and the surroundings sum to greater than zero, the system could proceed spontaneously from the initial to the final stage, without violating the second law” (Patterson). Yes, small decreases in entropy can occur within a working system, as long as the total entropy remains the same or increases. Evolutionists use this as a way around the second law and to support their theory. However, Paul Taylor, a creationist, provides an accurate explanation for decreases in entropy. Life on earth uses the sun s energy to exist. Earth will eventually die and the sun will not be able to bring life back on earth. Thus, even with added energy, the overall condition of the system in question degrades, meaning entropy increases (Taylor 4).
The sun can continue to pour energy into earth forever, but the earth s entropy still increases. If the earth were actually as old as evolutionists claim, the earth should be a desolate planet by now (”Physics and Evolution”). All usable energy on earth should have ceased to exist long ago. Even the Bible says the universe will decay. “They [heavens and earth] will perish, but you remain they will wear out like a garment” (The Student Bible, Hebrews 1:11). Energy still exists in usable forms and the earth still continues to function. This fact alone indicates that the long-aged evolutionary theory is faulty.
Furthermore, small decreases in entropy that occur on a miniscule scale cannot prove evolution. The amount of decrease in entropy necessary for the earth to evolve from a desolate planet, like evolutionists claim the planet existed before life, is much too great. Evolution from that point simply requires massive amounts of decrease in entropy within a system. Since the overall entropy must remain the same or increase, the major changes required for evolution, would have decreased entropy, thus violating the Second Law of Thermodynamics. As time progresses, entropy increases, not decreases.
Where did the energy necessary to begin evolution and the earth, come from? The evolutionary theory is founded on the belief that there was a big bang at the beginning of time. This big bang supposedly began the process of matter forming into lumps, which eventually took on the shapes of planets, stars, galaxies, and the universe. Over more time, life formed on planet earth. This theory has several problems, but one of the biggest problems is that the big bang violates both the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics (Wieland 9).
Conglomerates of matter and gas could not spontaneously form under the first law, because energy should have been created by that process and by the big bang. The big bang could not have started according to the First Law of Thermodynamics. The second law also deems this cosmology impossible because entropy and disorder were drastically decreased as the entire universe formed into complex geometric figures from random shards of matter. The entire formation and occurrence of the big bang itself violates the laws of thermodynamics. According to evolutionist David Berlinski, the big bang brought space and time into existence and “remains outside any casual scheme.” He believes the big bang created the physical laws of the universe, including thermodynamics (Berlinski 37). Even with that problem solved, a greater problem arises. What created the big bang? Where did the big bang come from?
These questions are indeed difficult for evolutionists. David Berlinski answers, “The global energy needed to run the universe has come from nowhere, and to nowhere it apparently goes…” (Berlinski 37). So, according to evolutionist Berlinski, the universe has no beginning, has no purpose, has no value, and has no destination. This belief sees the universe and society as people caught in a rapid river forced on by a mighty current, rushing to nowhere. However, the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:11b that this is not true. “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (The Student Bible). Humans cannot know everything but He has revealed parts of His Creation. God has created man to be eternal beings, with an eternal destination, individually and specially created by and for God.
Ecclesiastes 3:14 says, “I know that everything God does will endure forever nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him” (The Student Bible). Only God can alter what He has begun. He began the universe and set the laws into place. Evolution cannot define them, violate them, or destroy them. Humans were created and not evolved from an animal by a random accident. Life is not an accident and God has created mankind for a purpose. On the contrary, evolutionists believe the true origins of the universe and its destination cannot be known and will never be known (Berlinski 37). What they do know is based on theories supported by supposed facts and laws.
Unfortunately for the evolutionary theory, the universe can be and has been explained, not by extensive or complicated theories, not by any creationist or evolutionist, not even by any laws of physics, but by the Father. He gives the explanation in the very first sentence of his book. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (The Student Bible, Genesis 1:1). His word is unchangeable. Neither evolution, nor any other theory, can deny that.
Works Cited
Berlinski, David. “Was There A Big Bang?” Commentary. February 1998: 28-38.
“Entropy.” World Book. 2006 ed.
Morris, Henry M. “Entropy and the Resurrection.” Back to Genesis. April 2001: a-d.
Patterson, John W. “Thermodynamics, Creationism, and Evolution.”
AmericanAtheist.com. Summer 1997. (12 January 2006).
“Physics and Evolution: The Laws of Thermodynamics Contradict Evolution.”
CryingVoice.com. 5 November 2000. (29 January 2006).
Steiger, Frank. “The Second Law of Thermodynamics: Evolution and
Probability.” 1995-1997. TalkOrigins.com. (21 January 2006).
The Student Bible. New International Version. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1992.
Taylor, Paul S. “Second Law of Thermodynamics-Does This Basic Law of Nature
Prevent Evolution?” ChristianAnswers.com. 1999. (12 January 2006).
Thall, Edwin. “Thermodynamics: Who Wrote the Laws?”
(4 February 2006).
Wieland, Carl. “Evolution, Creation, and Thermodynamics (part 2).” Creation May 1980:
9-11.
Wile, Jay L. Dr. Exploring Creation With Physics, 2nd Edition. Anderson, Indiana: Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc., 2005.
I m a 18 year old home schooled Senior in high school. I enjoy writing and have written four essays for Midwest Creation Fellowship Essay Contest, placing each time. My research papers usually concern creation/evolution topics because I believe its important for one s faith and also is a way to lead others to Christ.
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