SQUISH! COMPRESS! CONSOLIDATE!
Jun. 16th, 2006 02:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
azuriteThe verb is up to you, but come July 1st, 2006, all student loans will have their current interest rate kicked up to a new minimum of over 6%. To all the "broke" college students out there, I highly recommend you consolidate NOW! You have only 14 days left...
Yes, consolidation means you waive your 6 month after-graduation grace period, but depending on your lender, you may still get a short grace period. You may also be deferred due to unemployment, financial hardship, or other reasons (Peace Corps, AmeriCorps), but don't count on it (kind of like getting out of jury duty, really...).
My lender has some great benefits for consolidating while I'm still in school -after 30 consecutive on-time payments (after-graduation; I can still make sporadic payments while I'm in school with no penalty or change to my incentives) my principal will be reduced by 3.33%! Taking care of the process electronically also means I can have the money automatically deducted from a bank account of choice, so I don't have to worry about things lost in the mail, signed, or sent to the right address.
Lock in the low interest rate NOW if you have any federal student loans!
Yes, consolidation means you waive your 6 month after-graduation grace period, but depending on your lender, you may still get a short grace period. You may also be deferred due to unemployment, financial hardship, or other reasons (Peace Corps, AmeriCorps), but don't count on it (kind of like getting out of jury duty, really...).
My lender has some great benefits for consolidating while I'm still in school -after 30 consecutive on-time payments (after-graduation; I can still make sporadic payments while I'm in school with no penalty or change to my incentives) my principal will be reduced by 3.33%! Taking care of the process electronically also means I can have the money automatically deducted from a bank account of choice, so I don't have to worry about things lost in the mail, signed, or sent to the right address.
Lock in the low interest rate NOW if you have any federal student loans!
