Student Loan Consolidation?
I just finished graduate school and, like most of my peers, owe
several thousand dollars in student loans. Today I received a letter
from Signet Bank offering to consolidate all of my loans into "one
affordable monthly payment" which will be "up to 40% lower" than
what I'd pay my lender directly. Has anyone heard about or
participated in one of these programs? The ad seems to stress that
my initial payments will be lower, perhaps implying that my later
payments will be higher...? I'd appreciate hearing from anyone
who has some experience with one of these programs, before I call
for myself and get the hard sell.
- What will be higher will be the amount of interest you pay.
For instance, suppose you had two loans, one of $5000 at 7% compounded
monthly to be repaid over 5 years, and another of $7000 at 7% compounded
monthly to be repaid over 8 years.