I need to consolidate my loans. I've been out of school for 2 years now, and I haven't done it yet.

I don't want to go with Wells Fargo (who has my loans right now) because they screw up my payments every month. (Every single month they call me because it looks like I haven't paid. I tell them I did pay, they check, and say oops.)

Can anyone recommend a good company to consolidate with? I asked my credit union, but they said they don't do student loans.

I would recommend Citibank and the directly with the Department of Education. I pay my student loans directly to the DOE and I pay the PLUS loan my parents got via Citibank. Never any problem with withdrawals etc.

In order to pay for college, my fiancée had to open up a bunch of private loans that aren't technically classified as 'student loans'. Is there way to consolidate private loans and get a fixed interest rate? Last time the interest rate increased, her payments went up over a hundred dollars.

Great Lakes is the company my husband used to consolidate his grad school loans at 3.25%. We have had no problems with payments (auto pay online). The only 'catch' is to calculate the monthly payment yourself. Great Lakes always says no payment is due and the minimum payment only covers the interest and never dents the principal. So if you go with Great Lakes you have to want to pay off your loan.

@ marqlet

please tell me how paying off your parents plus loan for you through citibank works, i have been searching for a year for a good way to do that!!! do they offer a special loan just for that purpose?? do you know a phone number?

Please tell me how to fold a dollar bill into a crisp little shirt.

In all seriousness, I'm glad I consolidated my loans when I graduated. I was able to get a fixed rate of 3.875%, and a few months ago, having achieved 48 consecutive months of on-time payments, I was granted a 1.00% reduction, bringing it to 2.875%. You just can't beat that kind of rate.

Oh, and despite the horror stories, I've had nothing but a pleasant experience with Sallie Mae. I could be one of the few, though...

@Schminteresting: In all seriousness, I heartily second your request for dollar-shirt instructions! I was able to dig up this tutorial.

I've had a mixed bag with Sallie Mae on the consolidation. They have the on-time payment discount mentioned above, but they are actually charging more interest than they tell me.

The rate that I should have been locked into was in the range of 3.75, and the final average according to their math was 4.50, and no amount of correspondence can change it. With the 1.00% discount, that is 3.5% over the life of the loan, which is great (and much better than I could get today.)

Their website is also top notch, if I recall correctly.

Geez, you guys have it good in the States. . .Up here in Canada, my wife is paying around 7.5%.

I learned one thing the hard way that I wish my school had explained to its students.. If all of your student loans are through the same company, they do not have to "release" your loans to a 3rd party consolidator. Instead of getting a nice low rate last year, I got a "weighted average of my current loans" that was about 2.5% higher than other companies wanted to offer me.. If your in college, please, please please switch lenders for a few terms, then you can go back.. it will be worth it.. (and make sure they are actually different companies.. Wachovia owns a few different companies with different names..)

I consolidated over 25 years, instead of the normal 10, because I make the same payment as I would if I were paying it off in 10 (there are no pre-payment penalties with mine) and, in case of a major financial problem, I can take a few months and pay the much, much lower rate, so I don't have to worry about calling them and asking to skip payments..

My boyfriend has been getting letters from Sallie Mae telling him to re-consolidate. Is that even possible? My student loan company, Edfinancial (whom I love), has no information about re-consolidating. Anybody know anything about this?

@Johnny: &*$%! this corporate firewall and its blocking of all "hosting" sites. I must wait to learn the fine art of dollar bill shirt-folding at home, I guess.

You rock--thanks for finding the instructions! :)

Anyone know anything about ELC.

[www.educationalloancompany.com]

Their rade reductions seem better than most. I have most of my loans under the variable rate, and one under the new fixed rate. If the rate is going up over 7% I guess I should bite the bullet and consolodate now. Graduating in August hopefully. Oh how I wish to have graduated when some of my friends did @ 2.33%.

Consolidations work like mortgages also, I believe. Thus your payments go towards interest and only towards principal once interest is paid off. Payments over the monthly minimum go towards principal.

Something I've never figured out is whether the interest is recalculated periodically or what. I've had my consolidation less than a year but I've been paying double the minimum. I don't get a new statement until my new payment book arrives, so I'm not 100% sure whether I'm actually saving all that much money in the long run.

@natemartin: If you can, I'd recommend consolidating with the government directly (dlssonline.com). If you consolidate with a third party, you may loose out on some of the loan protections (grace period, deferment, etc).