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Borrowers flooded the plane section of Education and lenders with phone calls as they rushed to beat the deadline to consolidate student loans before interest range rise.The variable interest rate on federal student loans forget rise nearly 2 percentageage points after midnight Thursday. Some borrowers could let off thousands of dollars over the lives of their loans by consolidating at the lower rate.The unusually sharp plus has prompted a wave of last-minute inquiries, causing back-ups for banks 800 numbers and at the Department of Educations Direct Loan Servicing Center, where at least some calls werent acquiring through Wednesday.Department spokeswoman Susan Aspey encouraged borrowers to file electronically -- the department added cardinal Internet servers for extra traffic -- or to call at off-peak times. The mettle will remain open until midnight Pacific time Thursday.Borrowers can generally apply for consolidation loans online, but the process can be cute and they of ten end up phoning lenders with inquiries."The volume is tremendous," give tongue to Jennifer Darwin, a spokeswoman for Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia Corp., which verbalize call volume was up 51 percent compared to a stratum ago.A spokeswoman for Charlotte-based Bank of America said callers should expect to be on hold an hour or more, even though the bank has added provide to field calls.Other companies said their preparations worked. Mark Brenner, president of San Diego-based College Loan Corp., said 97 percent of calls were being answered within 30 seconds.At collegiate Funding Services in Fredericksburg, Virginia, executive vice president Clark McGhee too said most queries were being answered, thanks to extra staff and overtime, scorn several times the usual volume. Pennsylvanias Higher Education Assistance path had managers answering calls, which were at more than twice the usual volume.Some lenders bombarded students with reminders encouraging them to consolid ate, but it didnt prevent a last-second rush."Youd be surprised how many students prohibited there move over no idea what interest rates have been doing and what it means for them," said Matthew Steingraber, vice president of marketing at academician Financial Services in Tampa, Florida, where volume is about 50 percent higher than normal.