It took Matt Kurylo 15 minutes last Friday to save himself about $2,000.

Thanks to a U.S. Department of Education ruling last month, the 29-year old University of Pittsburgh law school student converted his $18,500 variable-rate Stafford student loan into a new fixed-rate loan of 2.77 percent, avoiding an increase to 4.70 percent set to kick in next month.

"It seemed like consolidating would save quite a bit of money in the long run," Kurylo said. "You can't get much lower than 2 or 3 percent."

Indeed, it's a financial move straight out of Accounting 101.

Kurylo is among tens of thousands of students across the country who, thanks to the Education Department's ruling, are free to lock in their Stafford student loans at today's historically low rates. Before, such an option was only available to former students who had graduated.

The change is forcing current undergraduate and graduate students to dive into the world of student loans years before they anticipated making such a move. They are among the more than 1 million borrowers nationwide expected to convert or consolidate their variable-rate student loans into a single fixed-rate loan before July 1, when interest rates on federally guaranteed Stafford loans rise 1.93 percentage points.

The 70 percent jump in the rate on the low-interest, long-term student loans backed by Uncle Sam but offered by private lenders is the biggest in the student loan program's 40-year history. "Really, at this time, it would be foolish not to consolidate," said Terry Smith, executive vice president of the Academic Lending Center, a student loan lender based in Erie.

Student loan consolidation was first introduced in the 1980s to allow students to combine payments to several lenders into one payment or to extend the time line of their loans.

While regular loans are usually paid off in 10 years, consolidated student loans can stretch to 30 years, allowing borrowers to reduce their monthly payments.

But as interest rates have fallen to historic lows over the last four years, consolidation is being used not so much to stretch out the repayment schedule but to lock in rates on Stafford loans that otherwise adjust once every year.

"When it was created in the mid-1980s, it was not contemplated as a refinancing tool," said Martha Holler, spokeswoman for Sallie Mae. "That's really what it has become in the last four years."

Holly Dearborn, a 28-year-old sunning herself on a lawn at Carnegie Mellon University during a visit to Pittsburgh, has seen both sides of loan consolidation.

She first consolidated her student loans a few years ago after getting a degree in English from Penn State. Now, two years into a degree in landscape architecture at Purdue University, she plans to consolidate about $5,000 in new loans.

"The first time, I did it because I had loans from different companies and it was nice to get them into one package," she said. "This time, I want to get the interest rate down."

Because undergraduate students are allowed to borrow less than graduate students -- per year undergraduate maximums range from $2,625 to $5,500 for dependent students and from $6,625 to $10,500 for independent students -- the potential savings are lower but can still amount to thousands of dollars. Graduate students can borrow up to $18,500 per year.

While it is financially advantageous for most current students to consolidate, experts note there are exceptions and that many consolidations also include fees.

For example, some lenders will not consolidate unless the borrower's loan balance is more than $7,500, and students with so-called Perkins loans that already have a fixed rate would not benefit from consolidating those loans.

Also, students traditionally enjoy a six-month grace period after they graduate, during which they do not have to start paying back Stafford loans. A student consolidating while still in school would probably have to start making payments immediately after graduation.

"It's probably going to be a prudent thing to do, but the devil's in the details," said Keith New, vice president for communications at the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Authority, a state agency that guarantees and services student loans. "You've really got to read the fine print."

New urges prospective consolidators to compare late fees, consolidation fees and confidentiality policies of different lenders. That said, many students will have no choice in a consolidator because students with loans under only one lender usually must consolidate with that lender.

For students considering consolidation who do have a choice, potential savings can vary depending on the lender.

For instance, Stafford loans are offered at two different rates: 2.77 percent for students in their grace or deferment period and 3.37 percent for students in repayment. Some lenders, such as Citibank and Sallie Mae, are allowing current students to consolidate at the "grace-period" rate of 2.77 percent. Others are using the "repayment" rate of 3.37 percent.

Some lenders also offer additional benefits.

Kurylo, who just finished his first year of law school, figures he may be able to save additional funds if he takes advantage of other benefits being offered through his lender, Citibank. These include shaving 0.25 percentage points off his interest rate for automatic deduction of payments from a checking account and, after 36 on-time payments three years after he graduates, an additional 1 percentage point.

Time lines for consolidating also may differ depending on the lender.

All lenders have a deadline of midnight on June 30 to lock in the lower rates, but some allow applications to be transmitted entirely on the Internet -- that's why it only took Kurylo 15 minutes using the Citibank Web site complete with a digital signature eliminating all paperwork.

Others, such as the Academic Lending Center in Erie, require a physical signature on a piece of paper.

For college students with a penchant for procrastination, those details can make a difference. With only six more days to lock in, students who miss the consolidation deadline could learn an expensive lesson.

"I keep thinking that my student loans are far in the distance, so far in the future that it doesn't matter," said Dearborn. "But I know I should take care of it."