61,171.51

I finally got the summary sheet for my student loan consolidation today. I'd applied for consolidation on August 5th, and I'd really begin to wonder with the recent melt down whether or not Direct Loans would remain in the consolidation business when most of the big banks and even Sallie Mae have pulled out.

I'm glad to know that in the two months and five days since I applied, my summary wasn't far off from my estimation. I knew I was around 60K, so 61, 171.51 isn't far off. I know there are rules of thumb for the amount of student loan debt you acquire vs. starting salaries and while I don't remember what they are exactly, I'm comfortable with where I am now - noting this approximately 25% undergrad remains and 75% grad school. Given the annual cost of NYU, I'm happy with how I came out. I worked through both years of school and had ~10K in scholarships, all of which helped. 

I love the repayment options they give, hope the formatting remains here. I've left off interest rate since that remains the same for all: 6.5% as well as initial loan amount because that is also a constant. I'm not sure whether there are any on-time, auto-pay incentives available through Direct Loans. There is also the income contingent plan, which they did not detail for me since I didn't select it.

Plan # Payments Initial Payment Max Pay Interest Total

Standard 360 $386.64 $386.64 $78,019.39 $139,190.90

Graduated 360 $331.34 $579.96 $79,767.04 $140,938.55

Ext. Fixed 300 $413.03 $413.03 $62,736.99 $123,908.50

Ext. Grad 300 $331.34 $619.55 $64,805.85 $125,977.36

There's something a little cockeyed there since extended should be longer term, but it's not. That said, I can see the benefit in just an extra $26.39 per month in terms of interest paid in the long term. There's a new car in the difference there! While I'm lucky (?) enough to live in a market where $140K is going to buy me nothing,  I can see how people would see this as a mortgage.

There's no pre-pay penalty and my plan was always to pay more than the minimum and have the extra applied to principle. Now that my 2.9% is sorted, this is my highest interest. That said, I think I know how much I need to apply to loan/debt-repayment each month. I don't have a pay off date, but I like having a plan.

Off for the weekend -- not driving and spending gas and wear and tear... I'm taking Peter Pan to Boston and then the T/bus.