Girlfriends 70k Student loans

[adamcc91]

My girlfriend (hopefully soon to be fiance  ) and I are about to graduate.  I am lucky enough to not have any student loans, her on the other hand has managed to rack up 70k in private sallie mae loans.  Of course she wasn't very informed about rates and such in the beginning so they are mostly around 9%. 

How do we go about refinancing these?  We would like to buy a house after we graduate, and just bringing down the percentage rate a few points would save an extreme amount of money.  Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[SCF]

It can be tough to find a private loan consolidation with favorable terms, especially if the applicant doesn't have a established/positive credit history.

You can start by searching online, some of the lenders who make private loans also still do consolidations (I think Wells Fargo and Sallie Mae are still doing them), and you should also investigate the possibility with any banks/credit unions where you already have a relationship or could establish one.

It's good that you are already thinking about the best way to tackle these loans and your financial life together.  Use that momentum to stay on top of things and make a plan so that they stay in good standing until you can get them paid off.  You should also think very carefully before you co-sign anything, even if marriage looks to be in your future now, you may still want to keep those loans off your credit.

[adamcc91]

Thank you very much!  She currently has a credit score over 700 (from creditkarma)  I've done some more reading since posting this...any experience with custudentloans.org?  We aren't a member of a credit union yet.  (she uses wells fargo for normal banking and I use wells fargo for my truck loan)  We are looking at her spring semester loans right now, should she continue with her sallie mae for her final semester, or look into custudentloans.org?  I've heard you cant consolidate any loans untill you graduate?