How to Get the Best Student Loan Rate

Getting the lowest student loan rate possible can be rather tricky. There are so many different ways that you can get funding for school, you really have to do some digging to find out how to get the best rate. In the end, you may have little choice in the matter.

Part of your student loan rate is going to be based on the current average interest rates. If you have student loans from previous terms and interest rates have dropped, you may consider refinancing or consolidating those loans to take advantage of the lower student loan rate. However, you do not want to do this with subsidized loans, as you will suddenly become responsible for paying the interest on these if you consolidate or refinance them in any way other than through the Department of Education.

The Department of Education does offer some direct loans and direct consolidation loans. The problem with getting these loans is that you have a set interest rate of 8.5 percent. In recent years, 8.5 percent is much higher than the average interest rates. Basically, it's not a good deal unless you have such bad credit that your interest rates are over 9 or 10 percent, which is unlikely.

Your credit does play a role in your student loan rate, especially if you are getting private loans. The better your credit, the lower your interest rates will be. That is just common sense. However, there are other factors that may be taken into consideration, such as current income, expected income after graduation, cosigners, and overall credit history. In other words, there is much more involved in determining the student loan rate than just your credit score, which is used in other types of interest rate configurations.

In the end, the only way to get the best student loan rate is to do your research into every possible loan source and choose the one that you qualify for that has the lowest interest rates and finance charges. You should also consider other factors in your decision, however, because the lowest rate doesn't necessarily mean the best loan for you.