Students can consolidate their loans at the lower rate, even if they are still in school and plan to take out more loans.
Students who have multiple lending programs can merge their loans into one payment plan, said Wayne Sparks, early assistant manager for the Oklahoma Guaranteed Student Loan Program.
He said students who want to consolidate loans should contact their lender to find out options for consolidation.
There are both benefits and drawbacks to student loan consolidation. The main benefit is students have only one lender to worry about instead of several, Sparks said.
In addition, consolidation companies also help students by reducing their bills to one each month, as well as giving students an extended payment period of 10 to 30 years, he said.
NASHVILLE -- Tennessee students will have to pay $2,097 to $2,522 more in college loans beginning Saturday, July 1, according to a new report released today by the research arm of the Campaign for America's Future.
College students and graduates will be pushed deeper into debt as interest rates on Stafford loans -- the basic student loan -- rise from 5.3 percent to 7.14 percent on old loans and to 6.8 percent on new loans at the end of this week, the group said in a news release Friday.
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