The Student Loan Abyss

We've heard the stories about how bad the topsy-turvey student loan market has gotten for consumers, but I recently was able to witness things first hand. In an attempt to consolidate a couple private student loans to make things more convenient, I was only able to find two lenders still offering private consolidation loans (Citi and Key). To make matters worse, the lenders wanted approximately 8% and near 9% respectively for an applicant with excellent credit. The game plan now has moved to not consolidating and paying private loans off as quickly as possible.

Does anyone else have private student loans who recently graduated? What have you done with your loans?

Image: kjarrett @ Flickr