04.02.07 | HR 5-What does it mean for you?
Yesterday a student who is graduating May 2007 phoned in with questions on Bill HR 5 which is also known as the College Student Relief Act of 2007. His last year of school he borrowed a fixed interest rate Stafford Loan. Once he graduates he would like to consolidate his fixed interest rate Stafford loans with a previous consolidation that he did a few years back. His concern was that if the Bill HR 5 passed that his loan rates would never be able to go down with everyone else’s because he has already consolidated all of his student loans into one loan. He was simply confused on the full details of the bill and was looking for some clarification.
In a nutshell, IF this bills passes it will ONLY affect subsidized loans that are issued after 7/1/2007. Anything disbursed before this date will not be affected by the decrease of the interest rates. Personally, I believe that this bill is misleading the public to believe it helps ALL of the student loan borrowers—past and present. This bill does nothing for the current student loan borrowers who are heavily in debt. It will only help out the future students. This student is not the first to phone into the Student Loan Network looking for clarification of this bill nor will he be the last. So the answer is yes he can consolidate all of his student loans upon graduation and not have to worry if he made the wrong decision if this bill is passed.
The Student Loan Network: Stafford Federal Student Loans, Parent PLUS Loans, Student Loan Consolidation, Private Student Loans, Education Loans/College Loans
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What does the federal government interest rate drop has to do with interest rates on previously graduated students interest rates on their student loans. Does it affect the rates at all?
February 14th, 2008 | #