College students with school debts and those who will enroll this fall have one week to beat a 2.1-percent interest rate increase.

The student loan interest rate will increase from 4.7 percent to 6.8 percent on Saturday. Those looking to avoid the increase must make an application to a lender to get a student loan or consolidate their current higher education debt by Friday.

Jane Walker, director of financial aid at Butler County Community College, said while student loan interest rates have always changed each July 1, this year is unique because the rate will be fixed instead of variable.

She said the variable rates have long been capped at 8.25 percent, but the past decade has proven to be financially beneficial to education borrowers.

"Twenty years ago when I started here, the rates were at 9 percent, then it dropped to 8 percent," Walker said. "Then they went to a variable rate with the 8.25 percent cap. In the last 10 years, we've enjoyed historically low interest rates."

As the Saturday deadline looms, if student loans are not refinanced and locked in at their current rate, they will move to the higher fixed rate. She said borrowers with less than $10,000 in education debt might not benefit from consolidation because the fees would negate the savings.

She said one drawback to consolidation is many borrowers will lose their six-month grace period. That is the time lenders have historically given customers between college graduation and their first payment on the debt. Those students would begin paying back their loans immediately.

Walker said BC3 suggests students and former students contact a loan consolidation expert to see what the best deal would be in their situations. She said the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency has such counselors, and workers in her department have recommended the agency to many callers.

Walker said the rate increase was signed into law in February as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. She said it is the federal government's attempt to help balance the budget.

Tom Lustig, vice president of marketing for PNC Bank, said his company has seen a major increase in student loan consolidations recently. He said the boost in interest rates on July 1 has been publicized to those with education debt, and the bank sent flyers to those customers to alert them to the potential savings in consolidation.

Lustig said PNC processes more than 200,000 student loans per year. He said PNC has taken steps to help customers through the change by increasing the hours when customer service representatives are available by telephone.

He said there was a similar rush to consolidate a year ago because variable rates were climbing and borrowers wanted to lock in their rates. He said the volume of customers looking to lock in a rate for their education debt has increased three to four times over two years ago.

"If a student is a recent graduate, these are the people who really need to ask," Lustig said.

He said another aspect of the increase is the decision by the state Department of Education to eliminate students' ability to consolidate debt while still attending school. Those students have the same July 1 deadline to consolidate their debt.

Lustig said students and former students who lock in prior to the July 1 deadline will see their new interest rates take effect in November, and that PNC will still offer a grace period.

"The whole (application) process can by done over the phone in about five minutes," Lustig said.