Okay get ready students, July 1st, 2008 is approaching.  And the time is now to consolidate student loans!  Liz Weston just published an article about this. This is your chance to lock in rates of 3.6%.

Here’s the deal, if you had student loans taken out before July 1, 2006, then you are eligible for consolidation.  All federal loans given out after July 1st, 2006, have a fixed rate of 6.8%.  No more variable interest rates.  Also if you are still in school, unlike previous rules, you will be unable to consolidate.

This is a great opportunity for people to lock in a low fixed rate on their student loans.  The current repayment rate is 7.22%.  That’s not terrible, but not fantastic like the potential 3.6%.

So people get ready to take advantage of the low rate student loans and get out of debt faster.  Continue to make the same payment, with more going to principal and you should be out of debt in half the time.