Single lender rule applies, and SM is not going to willingly give up the loans. Sorry, but you're stuck with them until the loans are paid off.

Single Holder Rule Loopholes

The single holder rule is an anticompetitive rule that limits a student's choice of lenders for consolidation. If all of a student's FFELP loans are with a single lender, they must consolidate with that lender. If the student has FFELP loans with more than one lender, they can choose to consolidate their loans with any lender.

There are, however, a variety of loopholes that allow a student to bypass the single holder rule. There are also several loopholes that might allow a continuing student to consolidate their loans while still in school even if their lender does not cooperate in granting early repayment status to their loans. These single holder and early repayment status loopholes include certifying the inability to obtain (acceptable) income-sensitive repayment terms, consolidating with the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan Program, obtaining a Stafford Loan from a different lender, consolidating a Perkins Loan into a FFELP consolidation loan (or obtaining early repayment status on a Perkins Loan to qualify as an eligible borrower), and a married couple jointly consolidating their loans. Several of these loopholes have not yet been confirmed as valid by the US Department of education.

I can't speak to this but here is some info I found on the FinAid website

http://www.finaid.org/loans/consolidation.phtml

consolidating with the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan Program

This is going to be your best option, do what they call the 2-step, consolidate with Direct and then with UHEAA.

unfortunately the universities know about this rule and yet they fail to inform students. WHen i proposed this question the the head of financial aid - I was sternly told that I would not be getting an answer.

Clearly the loan providers somehow pressure the Universities to not disclose this information.

Up until yesterday, I had never heard of "re-consolidation". In some of the senarios set out, loans are starting out as FFELP loans, being consolidated into Direct Loans and then flipped back to being FFELP loans. If this is truly happening, I can only surmise that the DOE will lock down on this practice.

Financial aid officers most certainly advise students of the possibility of consolidation (at least at my school). We had numerous lectures (it was grad school) on financial aid and dealing with loans post graduation. These speakers were always from the big loan companies. You should have seen the looks i got when I asked questions about consolidation that they thought I was too naive to know.

call it a conspiracy theory if it makes you sleep better but it happens a lot

This is what I've just started. I graduated and consolidated with Sallie Mae back in '96 and my interest rate is 9% (ouch!). However, I can "re-consolidate" to Federal Direct and THEN move to UHEAA. Going to Federal Direct gets me down to 8.25%. Then moving to UHEAA gets me down by another 1.25% if I sign up for the Automatic Debit payment which effectively gets me down to 7%. Every bit helps, right?

Anyway, read thru this thread at fatwallet for more info on the single lender rule:

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messagevie...keyword1=single

WOW! Thank you ever so much, this is a very informative thread that really covers alot of ground.

CB is an awesome source of knowledge.

Lynn whether the FA officers are ignorant about the law or willingly choose to withhold information is no different to me. They should make themselves aware and do their job.

Does anyone know if the Uheaa interest rate advantages change each year? Will they be adjusted after July 1 or have they always offered these reductions?

Does anyone know if the Uheaa interest rate advantages change each year? Will they be adjusted after July 1 or have they always offered these reductions?

I want to consolidate with Direct for the ICR, but then I figured I would consolidate with Uheaa once my situation stables to get the rate reductions. I'm wondering if I would have to consolidate with Uheaa before July '06 if there is another rate hike. I hope not, I was hoping that I could stay on ICR for a year at least.

As an earlier poster stated...every little bit helps, particularly with larger loan amounts. The interest kills you when you can't repay your loans within 10 years. I feel like I'm moving backwards.

This is what I've just started. I graduated and consolidated with Sallie Mae back in '96 and my interest rate is 9% (ouch!). However, I can "re-consolidate" to Federal Direct and THEN move to UHEAA. Going to Federal Direct gets me down to 8.25%. Then moving to UHEAA gets me down by another 1.25% if I sign up for the Automatic Debit payment which effectively gets me down to 7%. Every bit helps, right?

Anyway, read thru this thread at fatwallet for more info on the single lender rule:

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messagevie...keyword1=single

Now I am completely confused! I thought that "reconsolidation" from Sallie Mae to anywhere else was never possible. I consolidated all of my loans with Sallie in 1999 at a rate of about 8%. I owe well over $100,000 and the payments take about 1/3 of my take home pay. About a year ago, I attempted to reconsolidate with Direct Loans to take advantage of the Income Contingent program, and was told by Sallie Mae that they would not release my loans (even though they do not offer an Income Contingent program). They were pretty nasty about it, too.

I was resigned to the idea that I am indebted to Sallie Mae for life until I read this thread (as well as the one at fatwallet). Is there hope????

There is hope, but it may depend on if you had any private loans that you consolidated. But if all your loans were Stafford/Perkins/etc. then my understanding is that you should be able to do this. I would advise you to call Direct Loans and talk to them. There is also a student loan database where they can look at the type of loans you have/had. Actually, you can look at them too. The site is www.nslds.ed.gov. However you have to have a DOE pin to access. You can register to get a pin at: www.pin.ed.gov. It took a day or 2 to get via email. This will give you a complete list of your loans and tell you how your consolidation loan is classified.

Anyway, call Direct Loans (loanconsolidation.ed.gov). My loan app has been received and they have sent an inquiry to Sallie Mae for the loan amount. So I'm waiting to see what happens right now.

Thanks, Texasnightowl. All of my loans were Stafford (no privates). I too registered at the SL database and got as far as submitting my application to Direct Loans. A few weeks later, Direct Loans sent me a letter stating that Sallie Mae would not release payoff info for my loans. I called them (Direct) and was advised to call Sallie and request that they release the info on the grounds that they do not offer an acceptable Income Contingent program. I made several frustrating phone calls to Sallie Mae and was told "no" each time.

I wish you much better luck than I had and would be very interested to hear how you make out.

That's encouraging to hear! Good luck! Maybe it's time for another try.

Thanks, Texasnightowl. All of my loans were Stafford (no privates). I too registered at the SL database and got as far as submitting my application to Direct Loans. A few weeks later, Direct Loans sent me a letter stating that Sallie Mae would not release payoff info for my loans. I called them (Direct) and was advised to call Sallie and request that they release the info on the grounds that they do not offer an acceptable Income Contingent program. I made several frustrating phone calls to Sallie Mae and was told "no" each time.

I wish you much better luck than I had and would be very interested to hear how you make out.

I contacted uheaa today and they said i couldnt consolidate my sallie mae and direct loan. They said sallie mae had to do it and they couldnt help me. any advice

These are stafford loans? What reason did they give you?

Basically I called and said I need to consolidate sallie mae loans, and direct loans and she said "You have to consolidate your sallie mae loans with sallie mae is there anything else I can help you with?" I said no and hung up. Should I try back or what. I went online and they didnt have an option to input sallie mae or any other private type loan for that matter.

Basically I called and said I need to consolidate sallie mae loans, and direct loans and she said "You have to consolidate your sallie mae loans with sallie mae is there anything else I can help you with?" I said no and hung up. Should I try back or what. I went online and they didnt have an option to input sallie mae or any other private type loan for that matter.

You can't consolidate federal loans with private loans, so that might be what your problem is. Are the Sallie Mae loans private or federal loans?

I am not sure if its private or federal, I got it in college is there any way to tell?

Do you have a login for the Sallie Mae site? What does it call your loan? Mine was something like unsubsidized consolidate stafford? Or call Sallie Mae and ask?

Also, there is a Dept. of Education page that has a student loan database. You have to have a Dept. of Education PIN first. You can request that online but takes a couple of days to get it emailed to you.

According to SallieMae it is a private loan now what do I do?

Just a quick update for those wondering if Sallie Mae would actually release the loan:

They DID!

Direct Loans received the information and will be paying off Sallie Mae within 10 days!

Step 1 is almost done!

Sallie Mae has gone away! Here's the status of my Direct Loan from the website:

Welcome, "my name". As of today, February 14, 2006, your application has booked. Your loans were paid on February 10, 2006. The Direct Loan Servicing Center will mail notification about your new loan repayment. Contact Direct Loan Servicing for more information about your application status at 1-800-848-0979.

Yay!

I'm about ready to start thinking about step 2: Direct > UHEAA!