Hi Heather,

Thanks for your website - there’s tons of great information on here. 

I’m thinking about consolidating my private education loans (I graduated law school before 2010 - prior to the time when gradplus loans were available.)  anyway, I am having trouble finding lenders, I checked this link you had (http://www.finaid.org/loans/privateconsolidation.phtml) - but most of the banks on the list no longer offer private consolidation.  Any advice?

Thanks!

My understanding is the same as yours, that most lenders are no longer offering private consolidation.  I’ll ask around a little more and see if I can dig up any more info.

Yes, I’m really eager to know what you think of any private loan consolidation that out there.

I have two loans at 8% with a standard payment schedule. I have great credit, but I’m afraid to lower my interest rate with Wells Fargo, just to get a variable interest rate that could change on me in the future and extended terms where I ended up paying even more.

I’ve looked into Custudentloans.org, do you think this would be a good option if I qualify for a low interest rate? Or am I just spinning my wheels?

I started taking student loans from 1977 to 1985 while I was in school. The loans were consolidated in 1990. From what I’ve read loans can be forgiven once 20-30 years of payments have been made depending on the loan. Is this correct? I have paid on my loans for most of the time since I completed school. If there is any truth to this, does it go from the original loan dates before they were consolidated? When I called MOHELA and NSLDS they didn’t know anything about it?

Thanks.

Brian

My general opinion about private loans is that they should be avoided.  Now, if you are talking exclusively about a borrower who already has private student loan debt, AND has access to other unsecured credit at better terms (things to consider include fees, interest rates, fixed vs. variable rates, available repayment options, discharge options, etc.), that refinancing private loans could lower repayment costs for a few borrowers.  My understanding is that such refinancing is only available for borrowers who’s credit rating is substantially better now than it was when they first borrowed the existing private loan.  I’m not comfortable recommending one private student loan over another for a specific borrower, since the factors that go into making a good decision can vary a lot from one person to the next.

Brian, you can learn more about Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Income Based Repayment on this site, using the Tools page and Webinar page.  Your ability to access these and other student loan benefits will depend on lots of things, but even very old federal loans can be eligible.  Bear in mind that most borrowers need to take actions to consolidate, reconsolidate, and/or switch repayment plans before benefiting.  There is nothing automatic about these programs.