college student loan consolidation

Deadline on student loan savings nears

Attention college students, parents and new grads: It's time to stop trashing those student loan consolidation letters along with the credit card offers.

They're trying to save you thousands of dollars.

There is no catch here: Anyone holding a federally-backed student loan — Stafford loans for by students and PLUS loans for parents — will see their interest rates rise by 1.84 percent as of July 1.

The good news is that these loans can be consolidated and the current rate locked in if borrowers act by June 30.

"The bottom line is that students ... need to be contacting their lender immediately," said Shann Doerr, financial aid director at Quincy University. "It can make a huge difference."

Lenders are offering a dizzying array of consolidation packages, some with rates as low as 2.5 or 3 percent.

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Federal loan rates face changes

After Saturday, college students at OSU and across the country will no longer be able to secure a federal loan at the current interest rates. Rates on the Stafford and Parent PLUS loans are set to increase by 2 percent, with the rates on Stafford subsidized and unsubsidized loans increasing from a variable of 4.7 percent to a fixed rate of 6.8 percent, and the Parent PLUS loans increasing from a variable rate of 6.1 percent to a fixed 8.25 percent. These loans can be bundled into one consolidation loan and secured at a lower fixed interest rate of 4.7 percent. In order to minimize the number of students repaying loans at higher interest rates, the federal government is allowing students to consolidate their federal loans while they are still in school. Students who are currently enrolled at any accredited institution have the option of applying for a Direct Consolidation Loan from the U.S.

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