"If you've already used your one-time ticket to consolidate your student loans and you're now stuck with a less than attractive rate, it pays to get creative."
"For recent medical school graduate David Amstel, the opportunity to consolidate $150,000 in student loans and lock in a record-low 2.77 percent interest rate was a no-brainer. So as soon as he graduated in early June, he sent off his paperwork to Citibank and was told his consolidation was complete."
"With interest rates at their lowest level in 37 years, smart students with higher interest rates are reducing their monthly payments by consolidating their student loans through the Federal Direct Loan Consolidation program. The difference between the interest rate during an in-school and/or grace period, and during a repayment period, can be as high as 0.6 percentage points."
"I am considering joining Take Charge America, a debt management program that charges a nominal fee every month. It will be difficult to make the payments, but my alternative is to keep making payments to accounts that are over the limit. I try to make the minimum payment, but can't do it on all nine accounts. What happens if I keep underpaying?"
"Republican leaders of the House of Representatives Education and the Workforce Committee unveiled a plan on Thursday that would allow borrowers to consolidate and refinance their student loans at either a fixed or variable interest rate. But because the panel’s proposal skimped on some key details — like how the two differing rates would be set — lobbyists for colleges, students and lenders were not sure how far it would go in resolving one bone of contention in Congress’s efforts to renew the Higher Education Act."
"According to Citizens Bank, for the first time in five years, federal education loans such as the Federal Stafford and PLUS Loans are scheduled to increase up to 70 percent. 'We encourage consumers with federal education loans to keep informed of the financing options available to them before the interest rate increase,' said Michael McFarlane, director of Education Finance at Citizens Bank."
"The increased activity came in response to the nearly 2 percent increase in student loan interest rates that went into effect on July 1. By consolidating loans on or before the June 30 deadline, students and graduates holding student loans were given the opportunity to lock in historically low interest rates. This is the first rate increase in five years."
