Salary, Scholarships and Finances
May 31, 2006 is D-Day (or “T”-Day”?) for Student Loans
The auction fo the 91-day Treasury Bill at the end of May will establish the student loan and student loan consolidation rates to go into effect July 1, 2006. Given the Federal Reserve’s penchant for raising rates this year, it appears that student loan rates are going to increase to the highest they’ve ever been in the last several years.
Stafford loan rates may reach 6.99% and PLUS loans 7.79%…gone are the days of 4.5% and 6.1%, respectively.
However, if you can, consolidate your student loans before July 1, so that you can lock in these pre-July 1 lower rates as well as obtain longer time to repay your student loans. For more information about consolidation, visit https://www.collegerecruiter.com/pages/student-loans-debt-consolidation.php.
You may think this is just another marketing gimmick, but it isn’t. Even Senator Ted Kennedy and his Congressional colleagues are encouraging consolidation (see http://kennedy.senate.gov/~kennedy/statements/06/05/2006511840.html!