The Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) helps students and their families save money by bundling multiple student loans into a single student loan, locking in the new student loan at a low interest rate and offering benefits in the form of interest rate reductions. H.R. 5, a bill recently passed by the House of Representatives and now being debated in the senate, will have a negative impact on Federal Consolidation Loans if it is approved by the senate and becomes law.

This legislation doubles the fees paid by FFELP lenders to provide federal student loans, which may eliminate the incentive benefits offered by FFELP lenders. It also encourages colleges to participate in the Direct Lending Program, which does not offer many interest rate reduction benefits to students when they do a student loan consolidation on their student loans.

Loss of Benefits Costs Students

According to NextStudent, the Phoenix-based premier education funding company, over the past three years, 4,653,000 students consolidated their federal student loans through FFELP lenders. As result of the interest rate reductions offered by FFELP lenders, such as NextStudent, a borrower who consolidated $30,000 last year could save $3,513 more than a borrower who consolidated with the Direct Lending Program. Additionally, a medical student could save more than $47,512 over the life of his or her student loan by consolidating with FFELP. These would be the savings lost if the current legislation becomes law.

Student Loan Consolidation Locks In Interest Rates

Federal student loan consolidation is free of charge and can lower monthly payments by up to 60 percent. Also, there are no prepayment penalties. NextStudent offers some of the most aggressive benefits in the industry including a discount of .25 percent for Auto-Debit and a 1 percent LOCKED interest rate reduction after the first 36 on-time payments. These benefits can save borrowers thousands of dollars over the life of their consolidated student loan.

Other packages include the Google Package: a discount of .25 percent for Auto-Debit, a .375 percent discount after six months of on-time payments and a 1 percent discount after 36 on-time payments (not locked). The 2% Package features a discount of .25 percent for Auto-Debit and a 2 percent discount after 36 on-time payments (not locked).

Qualify over the phone in as little as five minutes. NextStudent’s personally assigned Education Finance Advisors will walk you through the student loan consolidation process from start to finish.