Student Loan Consolidation Qs? (1 Viewer)

[Tony_Woods]

I just graduated this spring so now I have all my loans to deal with :frowning: I've been getting bombarded with a ton of information re: consolidation but I have some questions.

I have your standard gov't loans, but once I moved off campus, I got independant loans so I could pay rent & living expenses as well since I didn't have time to work more than 15hrs a week. Can I consolidate them both into one loan/ one payment? If so, that'd be awesome.

Thanks guys, this whole real world stuff sucks!

 

[Phil_L]

You can only consolidate student loans through federal loan consolidation. Lots of offers you get in the mail play fast and loose with the loan consolidation process. I recommend going through the Dept. of Ed for consolidation and do it BEFORE July 1 because the rates are going up. Make sure you retain your grace period and benefit from all incentives to which you are entitled. If the Dept of Ed won't do that, shop around.

 

[Joseph S]

It's sure going to suck if you fell one credit short. I'll be at less than 2% interest for the last 26 or so years on my fed loans with direct withdrawal, school discount, and on time payments after consolidating last year. At two years they drop it again and at 3 or 4 years it states the bonus rate discounts are locked even if you are late at around 1.6% to 1.7% for the remainder of the loan period.

Don't consolidate with the junk mailers. Call your school and see if they have a deal with your lender for even better rates. If not, I believe you must ask your lender and then you can go elsewhere if you don't like what they offer.