As Seen On MSNBC, Fox News DC, The Wall Street Journal, and Good Morning America
Monday, March 15th, 2010

Sallie Mae No Longer Consolidating Student Loans

Imagine my surprise when I call to get some information on my loans and what my payments will be once I finish my program, Sallie tells me they are no longer consolidating loans because the government tightening has made it no longer profitable for them.

From their website:

Private student loan consolidation

Thank you for your interest in Sallie Mae, the nation’s leading provider of saving- and paying-for-college programs. We have temporarily suspended offering our private consolidation loan program. No new private consolidation loan requests will be processed at this time.

Federal student loan consolidation

Sallie Mae’s Federal Consolidation Loan service is not available at this time.

Severe legislative cuts made by Congress made federal loan consolidation uneconomical. This, combined with the credit market deterioration, has caused us to suspend participation in the federal consolidation loan program.

Then the rep tries to put a spin on it by stating that it may not be beneficial for the borrower because we would be locked in with no opportunity to get a lower rate if it comes along. But the rest of us know that this also leaves us open to increasing rates if we do not consolidate.

I am too through with Sallie Mae at this point, I’ve actually liked them even while every one else sang their hatred from the mountain tops.

At this time, I need options, and I need them fast. I will be done in December with the possibility of going back to school in January, however, I need o figure out how to switch lenders so that I can consolidate when the time comes. Shoot me in the comments for this but can I call a customer service center that doesn’t link to somewhere in India?? I want to RIP my hair out every time one of them picks up the phone and its muffled and I can hardly understand them while it sounds like they are reading from a script! I have no issues with THEM being Indian, I have issues with Sallie using this method of customer service which only further infuriates me while I repeat each and every question. My option? Hang up, call back and o through the same dance with another rep.

ARGHH!

Oh and my payment when I graduate? $825. You read that right, $825, but Im not worried, we have a plan to knock out the loans in 2 years so Im cool on that, I just need to consolidate and get a lower rate.

Any recommendations? Advice? Suggestions?

(Photo: abcnews.com )

About the Author

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Comments (16)

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  1. [...] Sallie Mae No Longer Consolidating StudentLoans [...]

  2. [...] Sallie Mae No Longer Consolidating StudentLoans [...]

  3. R.W says:

    Restructuring the way you spend money is important, but more importantly is that in order to survive in this world you will need an additional stream of income.

    For too long parents have not been preparing and have not been teaching their children how to reduce their debt and at the same time build for their finances. Why? Because they don’t know how. Schools don’t teach this. They only teach you how to work for someone else and if you still don’t earn enough money go out and find a second person to work for.

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  4. Money Bread says:

    [...] Sallie Mae No Longer Consolidating StudentLoans [...]

  5. Rich says:

    The safest bet is to consolidate with the Federal Direct Loan Program. It is most important to wait until after the July 1st rate reset as rates are set to drop to the 3% range. Good luck!

  6. BK says:

    Try the federal direct loan program OR if you belong to a credit union consolidate through them

    BK’s last blog post..Are you Dehydrated?

  7. J. Lynn says:

    I’ve never understood why people get degree after degree after degree- and pay for it! There is nothing wrong with advancing your education but it should definitely not cause the amount of debt you will have. Try a public university, or find a job that will offer to pay for it instead.

  8. Ginger says:

    Thanks for the tip BK! Ill be doing a follow up post!

    Ginger’s last blog post..Sallie Mae No Longer Consolidating Student Loans

  9. That Guy says:

    I have a suggestion, Ask for a refund. You do have a receipt right? Ha Joke…

    I think we all should invest in school BUT remember one big reason for school is to get a good paying job. The other may be personal. (Self enhancement, parants told them to, Sports etc.)

    When people go to school they should have in mind that the school training SHOULD give Them X amount for money salary after graduation to help you pay for school, if that student does not have children or go on shopping sprees etc.

    So now you have Student loans, Well Paying them of is possible with just smart money management.

    Try the Credit unions etc. Online business or make money work for you and not the other way around.
    Talrude

  10. hank says:

    I got caught in the mix that I could only consolidate ONCE. So the first they “cold called” me I bit right away, consolidated and didn’t get the “greatest” rate of all time, but I really can’t complain from what it was at…

    I can also see their reasoning too – it’s tough to borrow money from the Feds and make ANYTHING off it now… Hard to turn a buck in that industry now…

    hank’s last blog post..The Wife And I Are Bumping Up The 401k Contributions to 15% – How Much SHOULD You Be Putting In Your 401k?

  11. [...] Sallie Mae No Longer Consolidating Student Loans : Girls Just Wanna Have F.. [...]

  12. lizzy says:

    I completely feel and relate to your frustation about everything!! i graduated in august and dealing with sallie mae is a complete nightmare – you can not get an honest answer about anything because the reps are reading from a script and have a thick accent that is hard to understand. i have been out of school for a month and im unemployed and i owe $150,000 in school private and federal loan debt (scary i know….i cant sleep most nights thinking about it). i paid sallie mae $250 in aug. to put my loans into forebearance until feb. 2009 and i thought everything was cool….at least for the next few months until i find a job and can make payments. well to make a long story short – sallie mae called me and said that i owe them $600 because my forebearance did not go through!? i was told “sallie mae no longer offers the courtesy of allowing you to postpone your payments…you signed a promissary note and are expected to pay” – what!?! i just graduated and im broke! needless to say im extremely stressed out and im trying to find a private lender that will consolidate my loans so that i no longer have to deal with the monster that is sallie mae. if anyone has any helpful info on private loan consolidatin please email me at lizzyg214@gmail.com and let me know. thanks:(

  13. nonnamejane says:

    It's good to hear I'm not the only one facing a monster amount of debt (lizzy, I'm looking at you). I used to be sleepless too. I was young, naive, and didn't really understand the financial aid process.
    After a near nervous breakdown I've kind of reached a state where I'm close to "okay" with it, as long as I can manage it somehow.
    Hopefully this will help. It's fairly recent, although I haven't consolidated yet: http://studentlendinganalytics.typepad.com/studen...

    Also, if you have federal student loans you can get that under the new Income Based Repayment.
    Consolidate federal loans first and it will boost your credit score for consolidating private ones.

  14. glassboro says:

    It is easy to tell someone that they should get less education in order to save money. But all over the world students are going to school and getting smarter. They are learning science, computer programing, engineering, world history etc. It must be a safe process for our students to get as much education as they can stomach without being scared that the entities that help them wont then decide to eat them! How can any country compete when going to school is a bad economic decision? The question is why does Sallie Mae decide its ok to charge credit card rates on student loans. This is no joke. This is not a matter of pointing fingers. This is a matter of national security. Education is freedom and it is not free!

  15. Lisa says:

    Some of the benefits of government student loan consolidation include low payments, low interest rate and easy payment method. With the loan, a student is not required to pay any of his previous loans and instead is required to pay only a single monthly installment.

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