POST GRADUATION
Loan Consolidation
Consolidation Loans combine several student or parent loans into one bigger loan from a single lender, which is then used to pay off the balances on the other loans. It is very similar to refinancing a mortgage. Consolidation loans are available for most federal loans, including FFELP (Stafford, PLUS and SLS), FISL, Perkins, Health Professional Student Loans, NSL, HEAL, Guaranteed Student Loans and Direct loans. Some lenders offer private consolidation loans for private education loans as well.
Interest Rates
The interest rate on a consolidation loan is the weighted average of the interest rates on the loans being consolidated, rounded up to the nearest 1/8 of a percent and capped at 8.25%.
If you are consolidating loans with different interest rates, the weighted average interest rate will always be in between. Don't be fooled if someone tries to suggest that this will save you money by getting you a lower interest rate. The interest rate may be lower than the highest of your interest rates, but it is also higher than the lowest of your interest rates. More importantly, the amount of interest you pay over the lifetime of the loan will be about the same.
No Cost to Consolidate
Aside from a slight increase in the interest rate on the consolidation loan, there is no cost to consolidate your loans. There are no fees to consolidate.
Under no circumstances pay a fee in advance to get a federal education loan or consolidate your federal education loans. There are no fees to consolidate your loans. While other federal education loans, such as the Stafford and PLUS loans, may charge some fees, the fees are always deducted from the disbursement check. There is never an up front fee. If someone wants you to pay an up front fee, chances are that it is an example of an advance fee loan scam.
Who Can Consolidate
Both student and parent borrowers can consolidate their education loans. (Students and parents cannot combine their loans through consolidation, since only loans from the same borrower can be consolidated. But they can consolidate their loans separately.)
Married students are no longer able to consolidate their loans together. This provision was repealed effective July 1, 2006. When married students consolidated their loans together, each spouse became responsible for the full amount of the loan, and the loans could not be separated if the couple got divorced.
Students can only consolidate their education loans during the grace period or after the loans enter repayment. Loans that are in default but with satisfactory repayment arrangements may also be consolidated. Students can no longer consolidate while they are still in school. Parents, however, can consolidate PLUS loans at any time.
You Can Consolidate with Any Lender
Students and parents can consolidate their loans with any lender, even if all of their loans are with a single lender. Direct Loans can also be consolidated with any lender. This allows you to shop around for a lender that offers a lower rate or better discounts.
Which Loans can be Consolidated?
Any federal education loan can be consolidated. You can even consolidate a single loan. There are, however, a few restrictions on consolidating a consolidation loan.
You can consolidate a consolidation loan only once. In order to reconsolidate an existing consolidation loan, you must add loans that were not previously consolidated to the consolidation loan. You can also consolidate two consolidation loans together. But you cannot consolidate a single consolidation loan by itself.
Source: FinAid.org
