Question for those with Stafford loans...

IWANT2BEEANRN · Jun 19, 2005

fellow human:

to begin with, if you have a large amount of student loan debt, then by all means consolidate those loans if you are able to. remember, that the interest rate will continue to increase, however, if you consolidate, then the interest rate is locked in for up to 30 years. my interest rate on my student loans will be 1.625% after 36 on-time monthly payment, with automatic withdraw. plus, i will be able to write a portion of the interest off on my taxes as long as i don't earn over $60,000.

finally, if you took out all your student loans from the same bank, then they have what is termed "first offer of refusal." now, what this basically means is that as long as they offer you the current interest rate for student loan consolation, you have to go with them. and you cannot consolidate your loans if you are currently enrolled in school. :angryfire

HealthyRN · Jun 19, 2005

and you cannot consolidate your loans if you are currently enrolled in school. :angryfire

sure you can. i just consolidated the student loans that i have up to this point. my school sent e-mails to all students reminding them to do this because the interest rates are about to increase dramatically. check into this because you definately want to consolidate before the rates go up!

Trauma Columnist · Jun 19, 2005

I just finished my BSN/MSN (June 05) and I had student loans in the past from my ADN program. I have always dealt directly with Sallie Mae (Indianapolis) and have always had excellent service with good response time from them. I am in the process of doing the application in order to consolidate and begin paying off my student loans.

wonderbee, BSN, RN · Jun 19, 2005

Not known for my financial genius here:uhoh21:. Can someone explain to me what are the steps necessary to consolidate? My credit is not so wonderful so banks don't exactly roll out the red carpet when they see me coming. I would like to lock in the current rate.

mitchsmom · Jun 19, 2005

Thanks for the feedback - I'm going to call my financial aid office & my bank in the morning. I'll post if I hear anything illuminating.

IWANT2BEEANRN · Jun 19, 2005

All that you do is call up the bank that you took your student loans from, and tell them that you want to consolidate your student loans. A person's credit rating is not need for consolidation of student loans. After all, they are guaranteed by the Federal Government.

RainDreamer, BSN, RN · Jun 20, 2005

Is there any truth that it may be better to refinance them? (I would do it through my own bank instead of the people mailing stuff to me (that is, if they offered the current low rates (big question mark).

I was told by the financial aid officers at my school that I couldn't consolidate through my own bank, it had to be through one of the banks that I borrowed from. They told me to consolidate through Sallie Mae, that they would give me the best interest rate and they would also allow me to keep my grace period even though I'm consolidating now.

If you want the lower interest rate you have to do it soon, the rate will go up on July 1st, you need to apply by June 30th.

As far as consolidating before graduation, this is what they say:

You can consolidate your loans before you graduate if you are willing to place your loans into repayment status now. Use Sallie Mae's special online service to submit your request for early repayment, arrange deferment status for your Stafford loans, and expedite the consolidation application process, allowing you to lock in a fixed rate as low as 2.875%.

http://www.salliemae.com/apply/borrowing/smartloan.html

Trauma Columnist · Jun 20, 2005

Yep - you are right. I have used Sallie Mae (not a bank per se) and done well.

Gampopa · Jun 23, 2005

Also, if you have Perkins Loans DO NOT consolidate these. Once you've worked as an RN for a year you can have the ballance forgiven but if they are consolidated they can not be forgiven.