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Era of low-interest rate college loans coming to an end

College students with multiple government-backed loans may want to consider consolidating them before interest rates go up July 1, says Indiana State Universitys director of student financial aid.I think theres a good potential for savings right now, said Tom Ratliff, ISU financial aid director.Current interest rates are very attractive, he said.Students will have to act fast, however.An era of low interest rates on federally-backed college loans is coming to an end. A combination of rising interest rates and legislative changes to the student loan program are affecting repayments. Rates on existing Stafford loans government-guaranteed student loans change annually and are tied to 91-day Treasury bills.On July 1, interest rates will increase from 5.3 percent to 7.14 percent for repayment of Stafford loans, which are variable rates.For PLUS (parent) loans, interest rates on existing variable rate loans will jump from 6.1 percent to 7.94 percent.There is a very substantial savings for parents, who consolidate, Ratliff said.Consolidation is an option for students who have multiple loans and at least $7,500 in outstanding debt, Ratliff said.

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Students, parents rushing to consolidate loans before deadline

College students and parents are clogging phone lines and rushing to Internet sites in a scramble to refinance college loans before a sharp interest rate increase this weekend.An almost 2 percentage point interest rate increase for federal student loans kicks in Saturday, and advisers say that not refinancing could cost thousands of additional dollars in interest in the decades after a student enters the work force.Tim Bornemeier, managing director for Lincoln-based student loan company Nelnet, said Thursday he’s been seeing a "record-setting amount of calls."Bornemeier said Nelnet has seen a steady increase in call volume over the last six to seven weeks.He said operations have gone smoothly, as most people calling have been prepared and fairly well-educated about the process. Nelnet was prepared, too, as Bornemeier said the company added 100 people to its workforce over the past few months to deal with the increased consolidation business.Bornemeier said Nelnet, which is one of the largest student loan consolidators in the country, this year expects to exceed the more than $4 billion in loan consolidations it did last year.Other loan agencies also are experiencing high demand.For-profit Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest student loan holder and one of Nelnet’s main competitors, is on pace to meet or exceed last year’s late crush of student loan consolidations, said Pat Scherschel, the company’s vice president for loan consolidation.At the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, the nation’s 12th largest student loan holder, calls were coming in at a clip of up to 15 a second, contributing to a tenfold increase in applications for student loan consolidations, said Raymond Bayer Jr., the agency’s interim executive director.Nonprofit student loan agencies in states including Iowa, Indiana, Ohio and Texas also have seen sizable increases in their applications as the rate increase approaches, said Alexa Marrero, spokeswoman for the Education Finance Council, an association of nonprofit secondary student loan marketers.The federal government adjusts interest rates on its student loans each July 1 based on a formula tied to the yield on short-term Treasury bills.The variable rate on a common Stafford loan dipped to as low as 2.77 percent for students in the 2004-2005 school year and 3.37 percent for graduates already making repayments.

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