When consolidating student loans, who’s a good lender to switch to get a better discount on loan interest rate?
I recently graduated from grad school and owe a little over 150,000 in federal student loans. I’ve been told about the option of consolidating my loans and switching lenders to get a better interest rate and better rebate on the fees. Does anybody have a lender they’d recommend I switch to during consolidation? Do you have any other advice about repaying federal student loans? Any ways to pay off student loans quickly? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.
When you are talking about federal loans you only have one option when it comes to consolidating and thats Federal Direct which would put your loans with the Department of Education. If you are able to make your payments do not consolidate. Most servicers only recommend consolidation as a last ditch effort for borrowers who can not pay and are out of options. In all reality its a way for them to get rid of loans that are high risk for default. the best way to pay off your student loans is to make large PRINCIPLE payments when able such as when you receive income tax refunds or other large one time payment. As far as your interest rate goes many are locked in, however call your servicer and see if they offer deductions as incentives. With my agency we offer .25% for signing up on Direct Debit and many are eligible for .5-1% off after that if they stay on it after one year. never forget that you have options. Lower payment plans, deferments and if worst comes to worst forbearance’s. What ever you do, do not default. The government can take your income tax returns and up to 15% of your income to pay them back not to mention all the other negative consequences.