I graduated in December 06, and my grace period ends in June 07. If I consolidate my loans with SallieMae will I lose my grace period?

I was able to keep my grace period when I consolidated some of my loans. I graduated from law school in May 03 and I consolidated all of my law school loans in June of 03 right before the rates went up. I didn't make my first payment until November of 03.

Each lender may be different though, I'm not positive about that this holds true for every lender.

Yes...consolidation takes 60-90 days so plan accordingly.

FYI: you're charged a lower rate during grace then repayment. If you consolidate before grace period ends you will get a lower rate for the life of your consolidation loan.

It's best to have your consolidation set up to disburse right before your grace period ends.

Cynic...they cancelled consolidating at the grace period rate last July 1...I am sure of it

Found it...thank god for google!

Interest rates for new loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2006, will also change.



Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2006 have fixed interest rates. While borrowers with fixed interest rate loans can consolidate while in grace, there is no benefit to do so since the interest rates for in-grace and in-repayment are the same.

Tell me something I don't know.

Someone who graduated in 12/06 would have like two @ 6.8% fixed, tops, for the fall 06 semester, and for all previous semesters there would be loans with a government rate of 6.54% and a repayment rate of 7.14%. Consolidating during grace would therefore make the weighted average lower.

People with no loans taken out before 07/01/06 have no reason to consolidate, period (except maybe for convenience or a longer term) but most graduates now will still have several pre-july 06 loans at variable rates that will increase once converted to repayment.