In short, the government replaces your federal loans (not private) with one single consolidation loan. (lendedu.com)
But you can not consolidate a single consolidation loan by itself. (finaid.org)
If your current student loan debt exceeds 8 % of your income or if you have borrowed more then $ 5,000 in private loans and are struggling financially, a consolidation loan can help you avoid loan default, which negatively impacts your credit rating.You can not You can not consolidate private and federal student loans into a single consolidation loan because you lose the benefits of your federal loan. (debthelp.com)