Grads, Grab Loan Bargain
June 4, 2006
For new college graduates, it's a great month to dodge a financial bullet. Just get some paperwork in by June 30 and consolidate those student loans.
Miss the deadline, and student-loan rates will surge 1.84 percentage points July 1. New college grads had average student-loan debt of $19,202 in 2004, says the Education Department. So dillydallying could cost you thousands of dollars.
But if you consolidate before July 1, you can lock in a fixed rate based on the current rates on your loans. Currently, variable interest rates on so-called Stafford Loans are 4.7% if you're in the "in-school" or "grace" period, and can be consolidated at 4.75%. Loans already in repayment carry rates of 5.3%, and can be consolidated at 5.375%. PLUS loans are 6.1%, and can be consolidated at 6.125%.
To snag the lower rates, the lender must receive your paperwork by June 30...
Read the rest here.A second interesting piece:
Grads, Take Note: Jobs Are Out There
By ERIN WHITE
As his college graduation approached last spring, Joseph Coster had yet to find a job. The double major in international relations and economics at Boston University had attended career fairs and searched job listings. But Mr. Coster had yet to secure the government-related, Washington, D.C., post he desired.
It is a predicament many college seniors find themselves in now. Even though the job market for college students is solid this year, plenty of seniors have yet to find something.
Career coaches advise students not to panic. The job market for graduating seniors has been steadily improving for several years, and is good this year, says Mary Schilling, director of the career center at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. "It's been creeping up the last couple of years but I feel more confident and more energized" about the job market this year, she says. Demand from consulting firms, banks, government agencies and educational organizations has been particularly strong...
Read the rest here.
