Generation Debt

The Houston Chronicle is running an article (that appears to be reprinted from the Albany Times Union) about the pitfalls of consolidation... specifically the one-time consolidation rule.

"It was never meant to be a refinancing bonanza," said Tom Joyce, a spokesman for student loan giant Sallie Mae.

While a handful of laws have been proposed that would allow borrowers to refinance more than once, there appears to be little political impetus in Washington to adopt any of them. Rep. JohnBoehner, the Ohio Republican who is chairman of the House of Representatives' Education and the Workforce Committee, said in March that reconsolidation is "dead as a doornail," according to a higher education newsletter.
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There are conflicting reports on whether that proposal would wind up hurting or helping students. Some wonder why students are being asked to shoulder any of this burden.

"Student loans shouldn't be a profit-making means," said Miriam Kramer, higher education coordinator for the New York Public Interest Research Group, which is partly supported by student money. The group backs reconsolidation legislation.

Variable-rate proponents argue that the switch will take away the inequity many face by consolidating at the wrong time. But that's of little comfort to those who consolidated when rates were at their apex.