Consolidating school loans

[Jenn]

I'm close to ending my grace period, and I need to look at consolidating my student loans. Any suggestions on who to go with, what current rates are, etc.?

[Michael]

Make sure to consolidate pretty quickly. If I remember correctly you do get a break in interest rate during the grace period. If you consolidate during active repayment your rate could increase upwards of 1%. I would say rates are around 6.5%. You could amortize over as much as 20 years. As for places to consolidate there are a lot. Most banks have products. You might also want to look at the institution that holds your current loans. They might be willing to give you a better rate. The key is to shop around.