Yeah I remember getting calls for my student loans asking me to consolidate my federally backed loans and claiming I was going to save a bunch of money. In reality they were lowering my monthly payment but at a higher rate and with a longer term, which would have caused me to spend a significant amount more in the long term . Bunch of scams that should have never been legal. Looking at the source, it looks like consolidated loans for folks who owe more than when they started are covered as part of the forgiveness. Hopefully that goes through someday.

The federally backed ones I remember having good to reasonable interest rates (looking at historicals they were pretty low most years) and being much lower than I could get anywhere else.

I’d love to see higher education being affordable for everyone. (If not free)