If you’re a graduating high school senior

If you’re enrolled in college

You’re a member of generation debt

Dear Generation Debt,

We need to talk about dreams and money.

What money you say?

I hear you – $45 to fill up your tank, $75 a head for prom tickets if they’re cheap, $100 to rent a tux, more yet for a luscious dress, but I didn’t write to commiserate, I came to pass along some suggestions on how to efficiently secure college money.

For starters, July 1 marks the end of low interest rates on student loans. Run don’t walk to the bank, if you haven’t already consolidated your existing student loans or squared away the one that’s about to pay for your first year of college.

As Walter Shicko, director of lender services for the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation, pointed out the other day: Get to the bank in a hurry because as of July 1 the rates are going up and the rules are about to get more costly.

On July 1, the regular interest rate for graduating students jumps from as low as 4.7 percent to 6.54 percent. Undergraduates who took loans last year at 5.3 percent will see their rate jump to 7.14. Parent loans, priced at 6.1 percent last year, will move to 7.94 percent for the next school year.

A student with $25,000 in loans can save more than $6,566 in interest over the next 10 years by getting to the bank this week, Shicko said.

In short, if you haven’t got to this, you’re about to be able to say that you have a banker. Shicko points out that after this borrowing cycle, undergraduates will no longer be able to consolidate their loans until they graduate, and the rates then are likely to be higher.

Borrowers in Connecticut have the advantage of dealing locally for their consolidation loans by calling the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation at 800-901-1480. CSLF’s First Rate Loan consolidation offers a variety of repayment options, reduced interest rates and money savings incentives, according to Shicko.

If you take a look at CSLF’s site you’ll discover how to get a fee-free consolidation loan. You will also learn how to receive a one percent rate deduction after 48 timely payments. Furthermore, if you employ automatic debit you will receive an additional .25 percent interest rate deduction. While this sounds miniscule in comparison to the cost of college, it’s worth a moment of your consideration.

The site is easy to negotiate and it’s chockfull of financial information, but most important there are two toll free numbers and people who you can talk to and who will help you to see the options that await you.

Once you’ve exhausted CSLF, I encourage you to take a look at The Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority (CHESLA) at www.chesla.org.

They offer fixed student loans at 5.5 percent, which are not tied to the prime rate, which means you don’t have to run like a madman to get this business done by the end of next week. This CHESLA instrument appeals to the procrastinator in me.

Let’s review the upside of CHESLA’s student loan:

Current loan rate is 5.5 percent fixed annual rate. Payments are around $4.58 per $1,000 borrowed during the in-school and six month grace period after leaving school, and $9.69 per $1,000 borrowed during the 140-month repayment term for principal and interest.

No application fee. No application deadline. Loans run from $2,000 up to the total cost of education less financial aid per academic year. You can borrow a maximum of $125,000.

While the student is in school and for a six-month grace period after the student leaves school interest only is payable. No prepayment fee. Graduate and professional students may defer interest while in graduate school and for six months after leaving school.

The biggest immediate downside is that there is a 3 percent fee. Three percent of what you borrow is the cost of the loan. That comes off the top of the loan.

As Linda Stern, a fellow scribe who writes for Reuters, points out: Shop Around. Speak with a local banker or someone in your school’s financial aid office; there is no shortage of options.

Stern notes that some mainstream lenders will often eat the three percent in fees they tack on to their loans. You just got to get aggressive and ask, she says.

Alright, I’m putting the breaks on this painful discussion – no one leaps to spread a $100,000 charge out over their credit cards. But if students take full advantage of what’s in front of them, the debt won’t cut so deeply.

The money you’re borrowing pays for figure-out time and skills: four years to figure out how to, as Thoreau put it, live the life you’ve imagined, and time to acquire the skills so you can go confidently in the direction of your dreams.

So get cracking on all fronts and it helps to keep an eye on the prime rate.