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Consolidating my federal student loans – looking for a fair rate. Help please.?

Feb 02

Mark SingleyStudent Loans Q&A aes, federal interest, federal loan, federal student loans, gate 04, interest rate, peers, reputable company 4 Comments

I currently have 8 federal student loans open through AES. I have been very good at making payments on time, however I realized that many of my peers have consolidated these loans. I believe the federal interest rate is around 6.85% fixed. Most my loans are higher than that. I am carrying about ,000 in federal loan debt.

GATE 03′: 8.02%
STAFFORD 04′: 7.22%
GATE 04′: 8.02%
GATE 05′: 8.02%
STAFFORD 05′: 7.22%
STAFFORD 06′: 6.80%
GATE 06′: 8.02%

I also noticed that my current balance on about half my loans is higher than my original balance, meaning I have been set up to not even cover just interrest accrued. Anyways, I am looking for a fair interest rate to consolidate these loans and equally a reputable company.

Are there any things I should be cautious with in deciding to consolidate? Should I wait for the federal rate to go down? Any recommendations of solid loan consolidators would be appreciated. Thank you.

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