Interest Rates on the Rise
By Jerri Simmons

Interest rates on Stafford loans are going up July 1st, and this could really cost you. The good news is you still have time to do something about this.

If you’re a student with a Stafford loan you might consider consolidation in order to keep your interest rates down. Assistant Director of Loans at UNC, Tony Patterson, agrees that consolidation could be the answer but says it has one main drawback.

“Right now you signed a promissory note and when you graduate you get a 6 month grace period, and when you do in school consolidation you loose that 6 month grace period. So that’s where you look at the amount of money you can save over time versus losing that grace period,” he said.

Patterson says not to worry; there are ways to get around paying your loans back right when you graduate.

“If you do graduate and you don’t find a job, there are other means to get income sensitive payments or do forbearance; so you don’t have to pay if you’re not working,” he said.

He says most students who borrow from UNC, have Stafford loans with the College Foundation of North Carolina. UNC students with more than $10,000 in loans should contact CFNC to speak with experts immediately. The foundation can be contacted on the web, at www.cfnc.org or toll free at 1-866-866-CFNC.

However, if you didn’t borrow from the college foundation, you have several options. You can consolidate with your original lender, with the federal government or with CFNC.