Twice-Consolidated Student Loans?

December 15, 2008 2:48 PM

I have already consolidated my student loans (federal Stafford loans) with Brazos, and I am not happy with them. Is it possible for me to move these loans to another lender? Is there a down side to doing so?

I have around $50,000 in debt that I'm currently deferring (about to be a student again). I recently screwed up and agreed to a temporary forbearance while some deferment paperwork went through. As a result, the company is refusing to allow me to keep my incentive plan, which means that I'll end up paying significantly more in the long term.

I do plan to continue to appeal their decision, but assuming they will not reinstate my incentive plan, any suggestions? FYI, I plan to spend the first five years or so after my PhD living very frugally (which I'm completely used to) and paying everything off. Despite my loan debt, my credit is pretty decent. (Not stellar, not bad.)

Thanks!

posted by nosila to work & money (2 comments total)

I am also interested in an answer to this, as my (undergrad) student loans will be coming due next year, before I go into grad school.
posted by digitaldraco at 11:45 PM on December 15, 2008

I was hoping someone else would take a more helpful stab at this question first, but I'll just throw in my data point and hope you don't find it horribly unhelpful.

I just started re-paying my student loans at Citibank and found out they don't do consolidations anymore. None. No matter how good your credit is. I think Sallie Mae and a lot of other major student lenders have totally dropped consolidations as well. I'm not sure if what you want to do is possible, but even if it was at one point, it would probably be difficult to consolidate even if you had amazing credit.

Digitaldraco- my advice is to keep in close contact with your lenders and find out as much as you can about payment plans, grace periods, and various types of forbearance that depend on the type of loan you have. Even though you may not be able to consolidate, there are many options available to you- especially if you're dealing with a short term change in loan status and not an open-ended thing. The thing that I will say about Citibank is that the customer service people are always very helpful and have been more than happy to talk me through my options.
posted by Thin Lizzy at 12:29 AM on December 16, 2008