Student Loan Interest Rates Could Hit Record Lows
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Here's your money briefing. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. We've told you about how the Federal Reserve has lowered short-term interest rates to near zero as a way of softening the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak and how that has helped push mortgage rates to 10-year lows.
How could Federal Reserve rate cuts drive student loan interest to record lows?
That's good news for homeowners who want to refinance, while student loan borrowers can reap similar benefits.
If you have good credit and you're able to get a very low rate on a private loan, you may be able to get a lower rate on that private loan than you're currently paying on your federal loans.
That's Wall Street Journal reporter Anne Turgason. Coming up, she'll explain the tradeoffs of refinancing and how borrowers could be giving up key benefits.
Most of the 43 million Americans who own $1.5 trillion in federal student debt could see their interest rate drop dramatically as the Federal Reserve cuts short-term rates to near zero. And Wall Street Journal reporter Anne Turgason is with us with some details. So Anne, how low are student loan rates expected to fall?
Student loan interest rates are pegged to the yield of the 10-year Treasury note.
How are federal student loan rates determined and how low might they fall?
Specifically, they're pegged to the yield of the 10-year Treasury note that comes out of the May auction, which is currently scheduled for May 12th. So I spoke to an analyst, a couple analysts who are relatively on top of this market. One in particular is forecasting that interest rates on federal loans for the upcoming school year will hit 1%. record lows, just on the basis of the fact that interest rates have declined so much since last year. So, you know, specifically, he's forecasting in the coming school year that rates on federal loans for undergraduates, these are Stafford loans, could be about a little bit lower than 2%. And rates for graduate students, again, Stafford loans, about three and a half
Rates on PLUS loans, which some graduate students take out, but also parents of undergraduate students take out, maybe about 4.5%. So that's what he's forecasting for the moment.
Now these are just estimates, but how do they compare to current rates?
Right, so it's significantly lower.
How do projected new federal rates compare to current undergraduate, graduate and PLUS rates?
For the undergraduate Stafford loan, for all three, it's about 2.5 percentage points lower than where we are now. So the undergraduate Stafford loan, for example, 4.5% for this past year, 2019-20, and then he's forecasting 1.9%. So that's a significant drop.
How would private loans be affected?
So there's two markets here. When it comes to student loans, the vast majority of people take out federal loans. And that really should be people's first step, regardless, because federal loans tend to be, for most people, they tend to be lower interest rate. And they also have lots of flexibility in terms of repayment. So that tends to be the best first place to go for most people. There's also something called the private loan market, which a lot of people, including especially people who have to borrow a lot of money. Say, for example, medical students or people who attend expensive law schools, they may borrow in the private market.
How will private student loan rates and credit scores be affected by the drop in rates?
And that's where you borrow from a bank and you get a loan. And in that case, the rate that you're going to get depends in part on your credit score. So if you have a very strong credit score, it's likely that, you know, rates on private loans are going to be declining as well. And if you have a very strong credit score, you may actually get a lower rate on a private loan than you would on a federal loan. Now, again, that doesn't mean that you should not borrow federal loans first, because they do have a lot of benefits that people should consider before going straight to the private loan market.
OK, so how would someone take advantage of these lower rates?
So there's two ways. Now, one way is that in the upcoming school year, anybody who has to borrow at that point should look at these federal loans. The rates are going to be lower, so they're going to get a much better deal on whatever they have to borrow for the upcoming school year because of lower rates.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:05–0:21
2
How could Federal Reserve rate cuts drive student loan interest to record lows?
0:21–1:15
3
How are federal student loan rates determined and how low might they fall?
1:15–2:12
4
How do projected new federal rates compare to current undergraduate, graduate and PLUS rates?
2:12–3:08
5
How will private student loan rates and credit scores be affected by the drop in rates?
3:08–4:00
6
What are the practical ways borrowers can take advantage of lower rates now?
4:00–5:41
7
What trade‑offs do borrowers face when refinancing federal loans into private loans?
5:41–7:29
8
What temporary payment relief and flexibility do federal loans offer during the coronavirus crisis?
7:29–8:47
Speakers
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