Student loan borrowers who submitted incomplete applications and missed the July 1, 2006 deadline to consolidate student loans still may have a chance to receive a lower interest rate. Federal interest rates on student loans increased on July 1, 2006, but some borrowers may still be eligible to avoid the interest rate increase, according to NextStudent, the Phoenix-based education funding company.

Many student loan consolidation applications were not completed prior to the July 1, 2006 deadline due to the great demand for consolidation. Therefore, student borrowers who missed the deadline are making higher student loan payments since interest rates have jumped by 39 percent.

There is hope for borrowers in that the U.S. Department of Education as of July 1, 2006 extended the deadline for student loan consolidation to those borrowers who have a partially completed application on file with a lender. Numerous partially completed consolidation applications from incoming callers and online inquiries are on file at NextStudent. These applications were started prior to the July 1, 2006 deadline and many simply lack a signature. However, the Department of Education through its deadline extension is allowing these borrowers to consolidate at the pre-July 1, 2006 rates.

Student borrowers must act now and call NextStudent to sign their applications to receive the lower consolidation rate. There is not much time left, as the extension deadline most likely will expire by December 2006. In order to receive the pre-July 1, 2006 interest rates and save thousands,
NextStudent's Consolidation Comparison Calculator

There is hope for those student borrowers who are not eligible for the pre-July 1, 2006 interest rates. NextStudent can help through its student loan consolidation program, which cuts monthly payments as much as 60 percent.

Student loan borrowers do not need to make numerous phone calls to get different quotes from lenders. Through use of NextStudent's new student loan consolidation comparison calculator, borrowers are able to view and compare rates, payments and discounts offered by the industry's top consolidation lenders.

The consolidation comparison calculator is free. It is coded in an easy format, whereby webmasters can simply copy and paste the code and offer it directly from their own Web sites so that all borrowers can take advantage of its benefits on any web site.

NextStudent wants all student borrowers to be able to take advantage of the best consolidation rates available. By offering great rates and top-notch discounts, along with a free student loan consolidation comparison calculator, NextStudent is there to help all borrowers receive the best possible offer.

About NextStudent

NextStudent, federal lender code 834051, is dedicated to helping students and their families find affordable ways to pay for college. NextStudent offers one-on-one education finance counseling and has a portfolio of highly competitive education finance products and services including a free online scholarship search engine, federally guaranteed parent and student loans , private student loans, both federal and private student loan consolidation programs, and college savings plans.

The NextStudent Scholarship Search Engine, one of the nation's oldest and largest scholarship search engines, is updated daily, available free of charge, completely private -- and represents 2.4 million scholarships worth $3.4 billion