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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.
More direct loan stafford student info
NATIONAL PROGRESSIVE GROUP DECRIES STUDENT LOAN INTEREST RATE HIKE
A coalition of progressive activists said that recent increases of student loan interest rates would cost California college students between $2,411 and $2,902.
According to the Campaign for America's Future, or CAF, the rate increase on Stafford loans, from 5.3 percent to 7.14 percent on old loans and to 6.8 percent on new loans, will push college students and graduates deeper into debt.
Parents who take out PLUS loans to help their children pay for an undergraduate education will see their interest rate rise from 6.1 percent to 8 percent on old loans and to 8.5 percent on new loans on Saturday, according to the CAF. The average parent in the country will pay an extra $3,000 and $3,953 respectively, the organization reported.
"The failure of the current administration and Congress to make college affordable for all qualified students is a disservice to the country,'' said Robert Borosage, the co-director of Campaign for America's Future.