What you see isn't always what you get when it comes to money matters. The following two situations show how important it is to look behind the headlines.

The U.S. Department of Education is announcing a new one-year program aimed at encouraging students to consolidate their loans into the government's Direct Consolidation Loan Program. Before interest rates jumped in July, this column reminded graduates to lock in last year's lower rates by consolidating loans through one of their lenders before the expected July increase. But that was under the traditional consolidation programs.

This new deal from the folks inside the beltway has some hidden drawbacks.

The mailing was enticing: recent graduates who consolidate their student loans will receive a rate that is lower than their current rate by 0.8 percentage points for the first 12 months of repayment. For those with the highest rate loans, that could bring the rate down to 7.45 percent in the first year of the consolidated loan. Those with lower current loan rates will also benefit from the 0.8 percent discount.

But here's the catch. If the borrower makes the first 12 payments on time, he or she can keep that lower rate for the life of the loan. But if you are more than six days late with even one payment, the rate will jump back to the interest rate cap of 8.25 percent for the life of the loan!

Even if you had a lower rate on your current loans, or even if rates drop in the future for other borrowers, you'll be stuck at the higher rate for 10 years.

So, if you're a recent graduate, just starting to look for a job, and you encounter some financial difficulties that cause you to make one late payment, you could be locked in at the highest possible rate for the life of the loan.

Even the Department of Education experts are predicting that only 23 percent of borrowers will make it through that first year without being more than six days late on any payment.

A better idea is to stick with your old loans, pay on time- through an automatic deduction from your bank account-and then ask the lender for a discounted rate based on your good payment habits.

Many lenders will shave one quarter of a percentage point off your loan if you agree to an automatic deduction program. And some large lenders will reduce your rate by as much as two full percentage points if you have 48 months of on-time payments.