Student loan consolidation typically refers to
combining multiple federal loans into one in order to simplify the repayment process or to take advantage of a specific repayment or forgiveness program.
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.
Debt consolidation is a program that allows someone
with multiple federal loans to combine them into one monthly payment at a fixed interest rate.
Until recently, college graduates interested in consolidating student loan debt had limited options beyond
bundling multiple federal loans into one single payment.
Some of these exclusive federal loan protections include: (1) fixed (and typically lower) interest rates, (2) deferment and forbearance options, (3) eligibility for Income - Based Repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness, (4) option to
consolidate multiple federal loans into a single Direct Consolidation Loan, which offers many benefits, (5) possibility of loan subsidization during a grace period, which is usually not offered for private loans, (6) etc..
On the other end, some companies will charge their fees but do nothing with the loans at all, so the borrower is still
juggling multiple federal loans — plus, they have been swindled in the amount of the fee.
If you took out
multiple federal loans, you could combine them with a Direct Consolidation Loan.
Do you have
multiple federal loans?
The process of refinancing multiple loans together - whether those loans are multiple private loans,
multiple federal loans, or multiple private and federal loans - is called consolidation.
Multiple federal loans and grants in default.
Remember: You might have
multiple federal loans and even Health Professions or other institutional / private student loans.
If you have
multiple federal loans and / or high loan debt, one option to consider is consolidation.
If you have
multiple federal loans, you can turn them in for one new Direct Consolidation Loan.