MD med school loans

[believe2021]

I have a question that may be silly/dumb to some, but that I need to ask out of curiousity

I have $30k in private school loans that I used for school building up at an interest rate of 9%

I just got into med school, and according to the estimate, I will get tuition covered (thank God)
I got housing taken care of

Now, considering that my private loans are building up....
I was wondering if it would be a good idea to take out the max number of federal schools loans from my med school each of the four years to be able to pay for my private loans?

my school loans would be both subsidized and unsubsidized with a %5 rate and 6% rate, respectively. (the rates and conditions for these loans are way better)

I don't know much about refinancing and loan consolidation...I could go and learn more about it..
but just to get some input, and to see if anyone has thought of or done something similar....would this be a good idea?

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[Doctor Strange]

Yes, do it. Pay off your private loans with your Federal loans. Not only is the interest better, but you gain many benefits from the federal loans that the private loans don't have, including but not limited to income based repayment.

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[Chris07]

Wrong thread sorry. Disregard post

 

[meduser123]

How are you getting subsidized federal loans for med school? I thought for graduate programs the fed only does direct unsubsidized loans up to 42k/yr then grad PLUS for the remaining COA.

 

[believe2021]

How are you getting subsidized federal loans for med school? I thought for graduate programs the fed only does direct unsubsidized loans up to 42k/yr then grad PLUS for the remaining COA.

I guess it is particular to my school? UCSD SOM
It's called a University Loan and it is being offered
I just don't know what the max amount on that is yet

 

[believe2021]

Yes, do it. Pay off your private loans with your Federal loans. Not only is the interest better, but you gain many benefits from the federal loans that the private loans don't have, including but not limited to income based repayment.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using SDN mobile

thanks, federal loans do have more benefits!

 

[Stagg737]

I guess it is particular to my school? UCSD SOM
It's called a University Loan and it is being offered
I just don't know what the max amount on that is yet

Make sure you know exactly what the "University Loan" is and if it is an actual fed loan with the same benefits. I've never heard of a federal subsidized loan for grad school since they re-structured the whole grad loan system. If it's a loan through the university instead of the gov, it may not qualify for some of the repayment plans that fed loans have...

 

[Domepiece]

I believe this is likely the Perkins based loan option that some schools offer to exceptionally needy students. Essentially, it is a Perkins loan (thus, capped at 5%) where both federal and University funds are combined to produce the subsidized 5% rate. Other beneficial loan terms may also be offered depending on the specific loan/University and sometimes University Foundation will use benefactor funds to sponsor these types of loans for additional favorable benefits like longer time till interest accrues.

You can read a little more about it at this link.

Also, yes, by taking federal funds to pay off your private loan you are somewhat doing a dirty DIY refinance. However, I would be careful of reducing your quality of life, as I believe you can only take out up to the cost of attendance, and thus the payments for your private loans would reduce the funding for your cost of living.