If you still carry student loans or have children who have student loans, you’ll want to pay attention.

On July 1, interest rates for student loans are expected to increase up to 40 percent, according to Collegiate Funding. That means students with a debt of $20,000 could pay as much as $4,900 over the life of their loans in a 20-year period.

Students who consolidate while in their grace period and prior to July 1 may receive a fixed rate as low as 4.75 percent. For students who are already in repayment, they may receive a rate as low as 5.375 percent. Current student loans are at a variable rate until consolidated and have an 8.25 percent cap.

Parents who have used the Federal PLUS program, the parent loan for undergraduate students, are facing the same increases. These student loans are variable and adjust every July 1. Current PLUS rates are 6.1 percent but could increase to 8 percent or higher.

For more information, visit www.collegiatefunding.com or call 800/918-7587.

This entry was posted by Taman Siswa on Wednesday, May 24, 2006 at 8:01 pm and is filed under Student Loan. Tags: Loans, Student, Student Loan, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.