Albert William asked:


As you are aware there can be several types of student loan consolidation for you.  Broadly however there can be two categories.  These are Federal Student Loan Consolidation Plan and Private Student Loan Consolidation plan for you.  Consolidation is made applicable to both types of loans. 

Stafford loans, private and federal, subsidized or not are prime subjects for such student loan consolidation.  You can also consolidate the HEAL, HPSL and Parent PLUS loans availed.  The PLUS loan includes the federal direct loans, consolidation loans, and direct loans.  Other loans that could be consolidated are Perkins Loans and Nursing Schools Loans.

About the federal and private loan consolidation processes

Federal loans as well as the direct consolidated loans cannot be consolidated once again without obtaining or including additional loans.  If you have already effected the student loan consolidation in respect of your undergraduate loans you can also add the graduation loans at later dates.  Since these are additional loans such loan consolidation shall be permissible.

You may also like to consolidate the private loans you had obtained as student.  Never ever try to consolidate federal with private loans that results in private consolidated student loans.  Such consolidation will deprive you of many benefits you could obtain with federal loan consolidation process.
Drawbacks of consolidating federal with private loans

Several drawbacks occur when you try to consolidate federal loans with the private loans.  Some of them are –

•    With federal loan consolidation you can defer payments if you wish to resume your academic career.  No such facilities are available under private loan consolidation plans.

•    Forbearance despite all economic hardship is not possible in case of private loan consolidation though permissible in case of federal loan consolidation. 

•    No income tax deductions as in case of the federal loan consolidation interests are available in private consolidation plans.

•    You have chances to be forgiven in case of federal loan consolidation that is not permissible under private loan consolidation plans. 

•    Like federal loan consolidation the military services, working as trainer in the economic development zones etc may not render you for any relaxation under private plans.

•    Private loans do not die a natural death in case of your untimely demise.  Your heirs and successors in interests would be responsible for repayment.

•    Private loan consolidation rates are variable while the federal loan rates are firm and often better.

Federal student loan consolidation should be your first priority

If you are going for college loan consolidation your best bet would be to consolidate your federal loans first. The federal loan consolidation carries the best student loan consolidation rate and will be highly beneficial in financial terms compared to the private loan consolidations.  Once you carry out your federal loan consolidation successfully it will boost your credit rating.  In result you will become eligible for much better terms and conditions going for the private loan consolidation at a later stage.

Dean Shainin asked:


Student loan consolidation has many benefits. Before you sign up on the dotted line, you should know how to get the best student loan consolidation rates. If you are tired of too many bills and monthly due dates, it may be time to find the best student loan consolidation you qualify for.

How Student Loan Consolidation Works
Here is typically how a student loan consolidation works. When a student first applied for several loans from several different agencies and student loan providers, they each gave a different interest rate and term for paying back the loans. The idea of student loan consolidation, is to take all the different student loans and put them into one easy convenient loan. You them only have to make one monthly loan payment every month, instead of several loan payments every month over time. This saves the student both time and money. Having a lower interest rate and less checks to write every month are a couple of advantages of doing a student loan consolidation.

The most obvious way to get the best student loan consolidation rate, is by having great credit. It’s easy to get great student loan consolidation rates with a credit score over 660. But, there are several ways to get the best student loan consolidation rates.

Know Your Credit Before Shopping For Student Loan Rates

By doing a simple Google or Yahoo search on credit and credit scores to find the information you need to check out your credit score. This really should be your first step to getting the best student loan consolidation rates. With knowledge, you will get the best student loan consolidation rates for your financial situation.

Student loan consolidation rates can vary from person to person. The student loan consolidation rates offered will be based on your financial situation and credit score. With a credit score under 600, you will have a tough time getting a good student loan consolidation rate.

Refinancing And Home Equity Loans Used For Student Loan Consolidation

With a home equity loan, you can get the best student loan consolidation rates possible with good credit. Secured by your home, a student loan consolidation can help get rid of your high credit card rates and loans. You will have less bills to pay, with the best student loan consolidation rates to lower your interest on several loans.

Refinancing your home mortgage may be an option to get the best student loan consolidation rates.

The important thing to remember with home equity loans and refinancing, is to be logical and don’t let your emotions get the best of you. You may get the best student loan consolidation rates available, but you still have to pay back the loan over time.

It’s best to take the time to sit down and research all your options that are available to you to get the best loan and interest rate.

5 Benefits of Student Loan Consolidation

1. Lower Monthly Payments. Depending on your student loan situation and the type of lender you choose, you may be able to lower your monthly payments by up to 50%

2. Having Simple Loan Payments. By consolidating your student loans, you only have one loan payment per month and one check to write. This is very beneficial if you are writing several checks every month to multiple lenders.

3. Having Fixed Interest Rates. With some federal consolidation loans you can have a fixed rate for the life of your student loan. It’s best to do research to see what the best interest rates and term you are eligible for. You can check online to calculate the interest rate on a new student consolidation loan based on the rates of your current student loans. You can then round up to the nearest 1/8th of a percent of the weighted average of the interest rates on your eligible student loans.

4. Extending Your Payment Period. You may have a lot of student loan debt. With federal consolidation loans you may be able to extend the payment term up to 30 years. It’s a good idea to realize you will end up paying more interest over the life of your student loan consolidation. The idea is to get some leverage until your career takes off. You can focus on making money instead of several monthly loan payments.

5. In School Consolidation Programs. While still in school, eligible students can lock in a low rate. This would put you into repayment status, but since you are still in school, you are automatically put into deferment. The drawback of consolidating your loans while in school, is that you lose your 6 month grace period. The solution to this would be to request forbearance for up to 1 year on your student loan consolidation. Here again you can do some research and get more information online.

Resources Online For Getting The Best Student Loan Consolidation Rates

With today’s Internet resources, you have an advantage when looking for the best student loan consolidation rates online. Take time to get educated on the process of getting the best student loan consolidation rates, and you can save yourself thousands of dollars on the student loan consolidation rates available, with just a few clicks of the mouse.

The idea is to combine all your current debts that you owe into one large debt with the lowest interest rate possible. Instead of making monthly payments on several high interest loans ranging from 12% to 28%, you can make one payment each month to one company.

Today’s career minded students can get help with the burden of having several student loans. You can focus on your career, instead of losing sleep over paying several monthly loan payments. Student loan consolidation can be the solution with many advantages. With today’s Internet technology, you can get a student loan consolidation quickly and easily.