The Fall semester has begun at most institutions, and publications are full of sage advice to students on how to manage their student loan debts. Unfortunately this year, most of this advice is wrong. One of the subjects I’ve seen floating around lately is student loan consolidation, and how much money a consolidated loan can save. That part is accurate. Consolidated student loans can save a lot of money.

What’s wrong is the opportunity to consolidate student loans. Very shortly, students will lose the ability to consolidate student loans. No more saving money. Sorry. Be sure to send a nice thank-you note to Senator Kennedy for that. His plan effectively eliminates student loan consolidation.

Some FFELP lenders have already established cutoff dates by which borrowers must have their student loans consolidated. October 1st is the date that some lenders are throwing around as the last opportunity for consolidation. If you haven’t consolidated your student loans by that time, you’re stuck with whatever you’ve got.

If your situation changes, and you need a longer repayment period, or if the interest rate on your student loans is higher than the current market rate, after October 1, you’ll be out of luck. You’ll have to find a different way to make ends meet, because you will no longer have the option of consolidating all of your individual student loans into a single loan, with a lower rate and better repayment terms. Sorry about that, but Congress has changed the rules.

The Congressional Democrats aren’t making too much noise about taking away your ability to consolidate your student loans, which for many borrowers is a real opportunity to save money. They’re still hoping to string you along with promises of massive interest rate reductions. The truth is that the 50 percent interest rate cut isn’t going to save much money for the average borrower. The real problem isn’t the interest rate. If it were, Congress has the authority to mandate a new interest rate. They could cut your interest rate in half right now without making a single additional change to the program. They have the authority to do that and they’ve chosen not to.

Ask yourself this: if they’re so keen on providing relief to student borrowers, why are they phasing in the interest rate cut? Why not just cut interest rates in half tomorrow? The interest rate isn’t the issue. The issue is that the Feds no longer want to back your student loans. They don’t have the money to adequately fund the program and this is a last-ditch effort to help you get through college. If this doesn’t work, (or maybe I should say “When this doesn’t work…”) you’ll be on your own.

Remember: it’s not the interest rate. Tell your Congressmen and Senators that you want them to live up to the expectations President Johnson established when he created the FFELP. Tell your representatives that you want to preserve the ability to consolidate your loans under the existing FFELP program.