FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN CONSOLIDATION

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Download free Federal Student Loan Consolidation.pdf The end of the semester is always a useful time to remind people about options for consolidating federal student loans. A few starting points (general do’s and don’ts):

You CANNOT consolidate until you graduate.
If you consolidated in the past to take advantage of lower rates (good for you!), you CAN [and want to] reconsolidate assuming you have borrowed something since then.
You CAN consolidate wherever you want – you are not required to use your lender even if they are your only lending source.
NEVER consolidate federal loans with private loans (for those with private loans, I have a link in the resource section to provide information about refinancing them).
ALWAYS shop around for the program that will best serve/meet your needs.

The most commonly asked question is always where to do it. Keep in mind that as long as you are doing a federal consolidation loan (which is the only thing you should do), the only difference between the products are (1) who you are paying each month; and (2) the financial benefits the companies offer [or don’t offer]. Everything else about the loans (eligibility for deferment, etc.) are identical, the lender chosen won’t offer anything better than another. Those two items listed are the only real differences with one ‘new’ (as of October 1, 2007) exception which I’ll outline later.

For the vast majority of people, item one (who you pay) is obviously not a real big deal – whether I make my payment to Sallie Mae, MOHELA, Dept of Ed, Citibank, or anyone else doesn’t matter. The second item (financial difference in benefits offered) is really the primary criteria that should be used in evaluating loan consolidation offers. How you look at the products is based upon how you intend to repay your loans.

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