The federal student loan program changed drastically this year, as you may or may not know. Interest rates charged to students and parents has effectively doubled, so people tried to lock in lower rates before the deadline – June 30. The good news is that there is one last opportunity to lock in low rates. These aren’t the super cheap rates that were available before July 1, but they are the ones available to people who graduated from college in 2006. You’re given 180 days after graduate to lock in that rate, and the most you’ll pay is about 6.5 percent. But if you shop around, you could beat it by a lot more. One great site to try is myrichuncle.com. So, don’t let those 180 days pass you by. If there is less student loan money floating around, colleges are less likely to raise tuition. That is the good side of the rate hike. Try to look at it that way.