Lower Rates

You may now have a lower interest rate. If you have a variable-rate Stafford loan—you do if you got the loan before July 1, 2006—your interest rate resets annually on July 1 as long as you haven't consolidated. This year, the interest rate fell nearly two percentage points to 2.48 percent. Borrowed money doesn't come much cheaper than that.

New borrowers of subsidized (need-based) Stafford loans also have lower rates: 5.6 percent for 2009–10, compared with 6 percent for 2008–09.