jtskier1200r said:I also found this from Wachovia: Link

Keystone best for students going to school in Pennsylvania or are Pennsylvania residents. A 2.25% reduction of the interest rate after 48 months. Im not sure if they do consolidation loans, might be worth giving them a call.

The Wachovia consolidation loan page states that they give:
.25% rate reduction for auto debit
.75% rate reduction after 12 payments

The 2.25% reduction you found is for their original loans, not consolidation loans.
Lenders often have better benefits for original loans than for consolidation loans (but since those original loans were usually variable interest rates, a consolidation to lock in a low rate is usually better than waiting those benefits.

Ugh, I'm really aggrivated. I'm graduating this May, this has been a VERY busy semester and it shows no signs of letting up, and I at least took SOME condolence in the fact that once I graduated, I could simply call UHEAA and consolidate my Direct Loans through them.

Well, looks like its not going to be that simple any longer, and infact much harder.

Does anyone know who will consolidate single lender direct loans?

I'm going to go and talk to my financial aid office this week and see what they suggest as well.

wab4878 said:what about the fact that most barrowers end up not qualifying for these interest rate discounts because of a single late payment or perhaps an error in the paper trail. Wouldnt that make THE more attractive

Excellent point. I remember reading somewhere that only a small percentage (like around 10%) of borrowers ultimately qualify for the timely payment discounts. Although probably many of those that didn't qualify didn't have auto-debit. You can maxmimize the chance that you will qualify though, by setting up auto debit and perhaps doing and automatic overdraft coverage with your bank so that an auto-debit will never be rejected.

If you can't take those precautions, a smaller immediate one time benefit might be better than a larger but contingent benefit that you might not get in the future.

Also if you plan on paying off your loans early (generally not a good idea if the interest rate is low and you have other higher (after tax) interest rate debt), the immediate benefit might be better. Although check that some immediate benefits might be revocable if you pay off early or have a late payment within a certain perdiod of time.

So does anyone have experience working with Educational Loan Company? The only information I can find about the company is that they're fairly young and that there is not much information about them

The fine print for North Texas seems to say that the 2.5 doesn't apply to consolidation loans:

Be sure to make your first 48 consecutive monthly payments on time, and you will automatically receive a 2.5% interest rate reduction for the remaining term of the loan. 2

2. Applies to Stafford loans disbursed on or after 8/1/96 and PLUS loans disbursed on or after 7/1/2004 (excluding Consolidation loans).


Rate Reduction

I have almost $100,000 in federal loans. I consolidated last year with dl and now I want to reconsolidate. I have 2 more years of school left. Graduate Leverage said I save about $21,000 with them vs. dl. But they put my loan in forbearance right after I graduate. Is that worse than grace period with dl, in case I need to go into forbearance somewhere down the road of my 30yr of repayment. I also looked at UHEAA, where I would have immediate repayment but can request an in-school deferment for all of my eligible loans. But that means I have no grace period with them either. My financial aid office strongly discourages us from going with Graduate Leverage and I don't understand why, they just said the forbearance is bad, so I guess UHEAA would be bad too.. Which one should I go with?
Please help!!!
Thanks!!

Found ScholarPoint

0.5% auto-payment discount
1.0% discount after 24 payments

This is close to ELC but is slightly better because the higher 0.5% auto-payment discount can be applied from day one.

EDIT: scratch that - for some reason I thought ELC had 0.25% for auto-debit.

good thread. i spent the last one week researching as many consolidation companies and found ELC to be by far the best option if you can do auto debit and make all payments on time.

Another good one is NextStudent - http://www.nextstudent.com/consolidation_loans/consolidation_loans.asp

they will take off 0.6% from interest rate if you apply while in grace/after graduation, 0.25% for auto debit, and 1% after first 36 ontime payments. The rate will then be locked in.

The only deal with this one is that Perkins Loans do not qualify for the 0.6% reduction (stuck at 5%) but stafford loans will qualify and the overall weighted average is better (i'm getting 4.375%.

Now between the two (since I graduate late may 2006 and my grace period would end november 2006 with my stafford loans), I am planning to go with ELC because they are going to honor the 6 month grace period - i.e. interest will accrue only after nov 2006 and my first payment will be due then. I then plan to pay $500 / month from that point on for the rest of my loan term ($41K debt). That way, compared to nextStudent who will require first payment about 6-8 weeks after i consolidate late May, I get to save about $2500 for my own expenditures (need a new car). Hope this helps!

Be warned with UHEAA, I had a bad experience with them and will move my consolidation loan to another company, thanks to the loan they FORGOT to list (after they said by phone/email 4-5x that all loans were listed). You may not like them, and I recommend another good consolidator if given the option.

Some more helpful advice: Sallie Mae is a behemoth of a company and their customer service is non-existent. Steer your loans away from them (& UHEAA) if at all possible.

My data base info is wrong. I've tried to get it corrected without any luck. The single lender I have doesn't even go by what's on there.

It's your responsibility to know what you're signing.