Does anyone know anything about private loans? One of my friends took out a private loan to go to grad school and now she has HUGE interest rates that she says she can't avoid because they're private. She says that if she had public loans, she would be able to consolidate to get lower interest rates, but because they're private she can't. Does anyone else have loans like this that can give me more information? Thanks!

Hello ljk19

By "private" do you mean the loan was taken out through a bank? I am not sure of the posotion in the US, but in the UK there are special student loans that the banks offer. Maybe something similar exists?

Honestly, I'm not completely sure where she got her loan from. I was hoping someone else had a similar experience and would be able to share. I do know that the government offers a lot of financial aid, which is what my husband and I did, so maybe by "private" she just means anything not funded by the government. In which case, banks probably would count.

I almost got private loans but decided not to because there are too many hidden factors behind them. For an instance, private loan interests might match up FAFSA's student loan's interest, however, as time goes by, private loans interest will sky rocket! Always be careful of this factor because it can really build up into very high amount.

Alweays do research beforehand & ask real customers. Yikes, I really hope everything will work out for your friend...

I think privite loans are a tricky thing yes intrest can sky rocket but if you are going to a regionally accredited school you should be able to get a goverment backed loan and they are really the best route to take.

My husband and I recently bought a car that was partially financed by a bank and our interest rate is 10%!! This is the same rate that my friend said she has for her "private school loan," so it might just be from a bank. My advice: avoid the banks!!