Student loan market offering the carrot and the stick

The teller window on student loans is being closed slowly but surely. Lenders are worried that they can't sell off the loans because of the slowing economy. They also have data telling them which schools have the highest default rates. It goes without saying that they won't make loans at some schools based on that information! The upside here is that it's getting easier to get rid of existing student loans. Clark's advice is to wait until after July 1 and refinance your federal student loan when the rates reset. The best guess is that rates for federal loans subject to consolidation will be between 4-5 percent. Compare that to consolidating now; when you'd get a rate that's more than 8 percent. So keep paying at your variable rate and lock it in low over the summer. Meanwhile, a new law guarantees full loan forgiveness for those who go into public service and make 10 years of on-time payments. There's more information available at the U.S. Department of Education's website or in Clark's own guide to the College Cost Reduction and Access Act.