Private College Student Loan

Can any student loans be consolidated at current very low interest rates to help us financially?

My 8.5% student loans are like credit card rates. Are the banks profiting on this? My Direct Federal Student loans do not qualify to be consolidated at a lower interest rate. I inquired already. I am struggling with $900/month payments and can't use home equity money because my home is devalued. I have 4 Parent Plus Federal Student loans at interest rates from 6.5 to 8.5%, yet home mortgage interest rates are as low as 4% and in some cases, lower. Why this difference and who is profiting so much? It seems that consumers who have invested in education of their children should not have to pay high interest.

Public Comments

1. 8.5% interest is not high. Credit card rates, today, are much higher - often up in the 20% or higher range. A mortgage is at a lower rate because you have put collateral up - your home. If you default on your home loan, they take your house. Your student loan was a riskier loan to make, because you didn't put up any collateral. So the bank charges a higher rate of interest, to make up for that risk. Yes, of course banks profit off interest on loans. Banks are for-profit companies. They make money off everything they do. Are you the parent? What's your kid doing re: these loans? IMO, if he is not already, he needs to be paying a significant part of these loans each month. If that's truly not possible, and if you're struggling, then you may need to take on a part-time job in addition to everything else you're already doing, and use that money to pay the loans; or else cut other expenses severely, until it hurts, so you can make these payments. Student loan payments aren't something you can get out from under, and defaulting on them causes severe repercussions.