Question : How can I lower the interest rate on my student loans?
I owe about 35,000 in stafford student loans (17,500 subsidized and 17,500 unsubsidized and want to lower the interest rate. Right now it is at 6%. I'm still in school but at the current rate I am being charged about 3.00 a day interest on the loans that the the government isnt paying the interest on. I've heard of consolidating but I don't really know how it works or where I should go to begin or even if I can consolidate since I'm still in school. Help!
- asked by The Drake
All Answers:
Answer #1
You need Mafia connections.
- answered by koolbreeze
Answer #2
By paying more each month and over a shorterperiod of time.
- answered by Nelly
Answer #3
See if you can open a credit card and pay it off.Chase offers a 4.99 F APR for the Life of the Loanon transfers, or even like 0% for the first year,then you can move it from one card to anothertaking only low rates, i work at Chase. so i thinkthat would help. I did myself personally with mystudent loans... well my mom did it for me , causei couldn't get approved for a 25,000 credit line.ha ha
- answered by Melissa Loves Lip Glass
Answer #4
You probably can't get any lower rate but you cansimplify things by consolidating. If you have morethan one, start with the lender that offers thelowest rate and then work your way up untilsomeone is willing to purchase your other loansand combine them at that rate.In case you aren'taware, it likely isn't all one lender, even ifthey all are umbrella-ed under the Staffordprogram. You might have a loan with a bank, orSallie Mae, or another specific student loanlender, so you are most likely paying back morethan one company under more than one contract(promisory note). A consolidation if nothing elsewill give you ONE promisory note, ONE interestrate (go as low as possible) and ONE paymentschedule. Sometimes that is enough to make life alot better.You get a low rate on the grounds thatyou are borrowing in order to better yourself,increase your marketability, and get to the placeoccupationally where you can pay them back in areliable way. If you have compromised that forsome reason, your rate will not likely stay thesame, mostly if you are delinquent. You may beable to stop the interest meter from running untilafter you graduate, it is worth looking into. Doall your lenders know that you are STILL takingclasses? If so, most times all payments aredeferred. I'm not sure if conditions are the samein the situation of returning to school after thefirst degree is earned, either to just take randomclasses, or get another equal value degree, or toget a more advanced degree. Simply put, you maynot be able to defer your payments (and interestaccumulating) if you earn your BA in sociology andthen sign up for underwater basketweaving for asemester, or start working on another BA forpsychology, or even if you go to grad school forsociology. Of course some things to consider:DON'T overborrow, DON'T defer more than you haveto, in order to minimize expenses in the shortrun, and DON'T undercommunicate with your lendersif you get in trouble. All spoken from experiencebecause I did all three, and have been in defaultmore than once, which forces the lender into theirmost aggressive tactics to get your money.All duerespect to Melissa from Chase, but I think using acredit card is a horrible idea and probablywouldn't work anyway. For one, at your age, youare likely not able to get a credit limit highenough to cover all your loans. Second, creditcard companies, if you have any trouble whatsoevermaking payments, your conditions on the card arelikely to change...with a credit card interestrates can skyrocket to upwards of 20% or morewhich would throw you into hopeless debt anddestroy your credit history.Best to ya!
- answered by musicimprovedme
Answer #5
you cant consolidate until after graduation, andeven then you're not going to get a rate lowerthan 6% until you've had a good payment historyestablished with the lender, becuase they willreduce your interest with good payment history.After you graduate you can consolidate and havejust one payment, but you're not going to get muchbetter than 6%
- answered by Mark
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measure and fulfill your financial needs
