SRNAs-- loan consolidation?

heartICU · Jun 15, 2006

Hello fellow SRNAs,
Are any of you consolidating your student loans before the interest rate jumps at the end of June? I still have more loans to take out so I am wondering if I should consolidate now or just wait. I have private loans as well-- are they affected by the interest rate jump and should I consolidate them with the federal loans? Aaaarrgh!!!!! This is so confusing to me so anyone who can explain it in a nice simple way please do so!!! Students, what are you planning on doing with your loans?

I consolidated last June before the rates went up in July 2005, and I also just did it again last night, before the predicted increase July 1 2006. The thing is, if you wait, you won't get the good interest rate. Your private loans may or may not be affected - depends on if the interest rate is fixed or variable. As far as I know, you can only consolidate federal education loans. The easiest way to think of it is:

As of July 1, all interest rates on education loans are predicted to increase by 2%. Most federal stafford loans are at approx 4.7% now. You can take advantage of consolidation by taking a "Consolidation Loan" which has a fixed interest rate for the life of the loan (and I think it is 4.75%), and typically a longer repayment period. If you wait until after July 1, the interest rate on the consolidation loan will be the same as any new loan disbursed at that time. If I were you, I would consolidate now. I have my loans through Sallie Mae, and they have a pretty easy online way to do it.

If you consolidate now, your consolidated loans will stay at the lower rate, while any new loans you take out after July 1 will be at the increased rate. Does this make sense?

athomas91 · Jun 15, 2006

emerald - i am done - but i would still consolidate if i weren't - and lock in at the 4.75 -most of them will also take .25% off if you do and automized payment and after 36 consecutive on time payments it decreases another .5% - that gets you to 4% ...

good luck.

LuvMyGamecocks · Jun 15, 2006

Not an SRNA...still a nursing student, but I do have student loans, too. I consolidated. My loans are through the SC Student Loan Corp., but they are Federal Stafford loans. We have incentives, too. With automatic bankdraft, you get a .25% interest rate reduction. With 48 consecutive on-time payments, you get a full 1% reduction.

Consolidate now!!! Like you, I have more loans to take out, but those I'll have to accept as having a higher interest rate and hope there will be another consolidation available at some point. At least you'll have the past part of your total loan "package" locked in at a lower interest rate!!!!

As far as private loans, I don't know. But your lender should be able to tell you if you can include them. The website I used to apply for the consolidation asked about other loans, so you may be in luck.

Consolidate!!

JJRN · Jun 16, 2006

You can only consolidate your federal loans. You cannot consolidate personal loans, such as a loan from Sallie Mae or Citibank, etc, with the federal loans. It will not hurt to consolidate now. The only loss is the 6 mo grace period of deferment once you graduate, but you will be making enough to make these initial payments.

schway · Jun 16, 2006

Hello everyone,

I'm starting this august and wondering if I should apply for my full loan(living, not tuition) through sallie mae and pony up the upfront origination fee before the rate hike on 7/1, or wait until I can apply for a Wells Fargo(no origination fee) loan, which would be after the rate hike...my program won't have the documents ready that WF requires to process the loan(tuition bill or class registration) until mid July....

any insight would be appreciated. :idea:

thanks.

TexasCCRN · Jun 16, 2006

Hello everyone,
I'm starting this august and wondering if I should apply for my full loan(living, not tuition) through sallie mae and pony up the upfront origination fee before the rate hike on 7/1, or wait until I can apply for a Wells Fargo(no origination fee) loan, which would be after the rate hike...my program won't have the documents ready that WF requires to process the loan(tuition bill or class registration) until mid July....
any insight would be appreciated.
thanks.

I did the wells fargo way early all you have to do is get a fax from the school or something with their letterhead on it that says you will be enrolled full time, etc. If you have been accepted your school should be able to give you this without a problem. If not...i don't know what's up with the school!

momcrna · Jun 17, 2006

I am now done, but one thing to be cautious regarding. If you need to take out additional stafford loans to make it through school, make sure that you do not have them in process while your consolidation is pending. I consolidated last year the bulk of my loans. I also requested an additional new loan to make it to the end of school. Though assured by Sallie Mae that I could do a separate consolidation of the final loan, I ran into a glitch. Sallie Mae dispersed my last loan prior to finalizing my consolidation loan. Now I have been told that because the final loan was dispersed (6/23) prior to closing the consolidation loan (7/15), I can only roll my last loan into my large consolidation loan. That would increase the rate on the entire balance. So be careful, because the consolidation side of Sallie Mae and the Stafford loan origination branches do not work in sync. I know this is a bit intricate, but it makes a difference in your payments.

schway · Jun 17, 2006

Texas, I sent you a PM...

jewelcutt · Jun 18, 2006

So, for the federal loans through FAFSA, how do you consolidate your loans? Is there an easy way to do it from the FAFSA website?

deepz · Jan 12, 2007

Bill could cut Stafford rates in half

http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/12/pf/college/student_loan_rates_bill/index.htm

lyela · Jan 13, 2007

Bill could cut Stafford rates in half
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/12/pf/college/student_loan_rates_bill/index.htm

I wonder why the article suggest it would only apply to undergraduate loans?

"NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced a bill Friday afternoon that would cut in half the fixed interest rates on need-based Stafford loans for undergraduates over five years."