Forking over your monthly student loan payment is surely something that makes you sigh with irritation, but here's some news that may make those times of the month less brutal.
If you've already consolidated your student loans and haven't added any new ones then you're not eligible for a rate reduction, but if you haven't yet consolidated consider marking July 1 on your calendar. Find out what rates may be available as of the first when you read more.
Here's the deal: If you have federal variable-rate student loans that were issued before July 1, 2006 and have not consolidated, you are eligible to lock in rates of 3.62 percent to 4.25 percent on Stafford Loans and 5.13 percent on PLUS Loans for graduate students and parents. This doesn't apply to students still in school, and if you're in your six-month grace period you can lock in the lowest rate for loans from your first two years of school.
The lowest rate is about three percentage points lower than the current federal rates. To find out more about consolidating your federal variable-rate loans (as of July 1, 2008) visit the US Department of Education.
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Del Gatto
Nuovegioie
i'm definitely going to do this. i think i'm paying 7.5% on my federal loans, but my private variable rate loans dropped down to 5.5% (from 8.5% and almost 9%). phew! it'll be great to catch another break on these.
1I am totally going to do this. I forgot to lock in before and though I've nearly paid off the interest bearing portion, it'll still be $100 or so of breathing room.
2I think I have a fixed rate, and it is still a couple points higher than what they are offering to lower it to. Can I still do this?
3terryt18- Everything I've read says that it's only for variable rate loans. This article goes into further detail and I think it would beneficial for you to check it out. http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/block/2008-04-28-student-l...
4Thanks, boo.
5nice! i called to consolidate today and the girl at AES told me to wait til July 1....good to know.
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