With federal loan consolidation (only to be used with existing federal loans) you may qualify for additional repayment and forgiveness options, but you won't get a lower interest rate.
Private loan consolidation offers many of the same benefits
as federal loan consolidation, with the added advantage that the interest rate is not based on a weighted average.
The tables below illustrate an example of
how federal loan consolidation can help you manage multiple student loans, by combining them into a single payment.
Federal loan consolidation deals are much more affordable, but when clearing these college loans be sure to read the small print, and to know the details of the agreement.
Because getting higher education is expensive and millions of students rely on student loans to finance their education,
federal loan consolidation provides a break for graduates with debt.
By applying
for federal loan consolidation, you are combining multiple federal loans together to create one monthly payment, instead of having multiple different payments going towards multiple different federal loans.
The tables below illustrate an example of
how federal loan consolidation can help you manage multiple student loans, by combining them into a single payment.
In contrast, the vast majority (95 percent) of the reported student loan borrowers who chose to
use federal loan consolidation to get out of default (taking out a new federal loan to pay off the defaulted one), are still in good standing a year out.
If you're repaying federal loans through Great Lakes, on the other hand, you'll have access to federal income - based repayment options including Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Income - Based Repayment (IBR), Income - Contingent Repayment (ICR), as well
as federal loan consolidation, deferment, and forbearance in certain cases.
Although the Department of Education allows borrowers to consolidate multiple federal student loans into a single loan to simplify monthly payments,
federal loan consolidation does not provide borrowers with a lower interest rate.
If you've read about the pros and cons of student loan consolidation, and understand the differences between private and
federal loan consolidation, you might have decided that federal loan consolidation is right for you.
If you have private loans they are not eligible for
federal loan consolidation.
If you opt for
federal loan consolidation, you could choose the standard 10 - year repayment term or get on an income - driven plan.
Loan deferment, income - driven repayment plans, forbearance, and
federal loan consolidation or student loan refinancing are all alternatives in the absence of banking on the borrower defense to repayment rule.
Federal loan consolidation doesn't have a credit requirement, and it offers the benefit of a single loan bill and potentially lower payments.
* The final fixed interest rate for
your federal loan consolidation loan is calculated as the weighted average of the interest rates on the loans being consolidated rounded up to the nearest one - eighth of a percent.
Federal Loan Consolidation - Can reduce the number of loans to one monthly payment.
These loans can be consolidated under
the Federal Loan Consolidation Program.
If you have private loans they are not eligible for
federal loan consolidation.